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The half life of a radioactive substance is 5 hours. If 5g of the substance is left after 20 hours, determine the original mass of the substance​

User HyperioN
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Answer:

The original mass of the substance was 10g.

Step-by-step explanation:

The half-life of a radioactive substance is the amount of time it takes for half of the substance to decay. In this case, the half-life is 5 hours.

We can use the half-life formula to find the original mass of the substance:

N = N0 * (1/2)^(t/T)

where:

---N0 is the initial mass of the substance

---N is the remaining mass of the substance after time t

---T is the half-life of the substance

We know that after 20 hours, only half of the substance remains:

N = N0 * (1/2)^(20/5) = 0.5 * N0

If we solve for N0, we get:

N0 = N / 0.5 = 5g / 0.5 = 10g

Therefore, the original mass of the substance was 10g.

User Pavel Perevezencev
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