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At the beginning of an experiment, a scientist has 140 grams of radioactive goo. After 240 minutes, her sample has decayed to 17.5 grams.

What is the half-life of the goo in minutes?

Find a formula for G(t) the amount of goo remaining at time t. G(t) =

How many grams of goo will remain after 5 minutes?

User Pabrams
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2 Answers

5 votes

Answer:

Explanation:

To find the half-life of the radioactive goo in minutes, we can use the formula:

t(1/2) = (ln(2))/k

Where t(1/2) is the half-life, ln represents the natural logarithm, and k is the decay constant.

In this case, we have the initial amount of goo (140 grams) and the amount remaining after a certain time (17.5 grams). We can use this information to find the value of k.

Using the equation G(t) = G(0) * e^(-kt), where G(t) represents the amount of goo remaining at time t, G(0) is the initial amount of goo, e is the base of the natural logarithm, and k is the decay constant, we can substitute the values into the equation:

17.5 = 140 * e^(-k * 240)

To find the value of k, we can divide both sides of the equation by 140:

0.125 = e^(-k * 240)

Now, taking the natural logarithm of both sides:

ln(0.125) = -k * 240

Solving for k:

k = -(ln(0.125))/240

Now that we have the value of k, we can use the half-life formula to find the half-life in minutes:

t(1/2) = (ln(2))/k

Substituting the value of k:

t(1/2) = (ln(2))/(-(ln(0.125))/240)

Simplifying:

t(1/2) = (ln(2)) * (-240/ln(0.125))

t(1/2) ≈ 554.7 minutes

The formula for G(t), the amount of goo remaining at time t, is:

G(t) = G(0) * e^(-kt)

To find the amount of goo remaining after 5 minutes, we can substitute the values into the formula:

G(t) = 140 * e^(-k * 5)

Using the value of k we calculated earlier:

G(t) ≈ 140 * e^(-(-(ln(0.125))/240) * 5)

Simplifying:

G(t) ≈ 140 * e^((ln(0.125))/48)

G(t) ≈ 140 * 0.625

G(t) ≈ 87.5 grams

Therefore, after 5 minutes, approximately 87.5 grams of goo will remain.

User Ahmed Salama
by
8.0k points
1 vote

Answer:

140((1/2)^(240/t)) = 17.5

(1/2)^(240/t) = 1/8

240/t = 3

t = 80 minutes

The half-life of the goo is 80 minutes.

G(t) = 140((1/2)^(t/80))

G(5) = 140((1/2)^(5/80)) = 134.06 grams

After 5 minutes, about 134.06 grams of goo will remain.

User LeMarque
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8.3k points