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Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8 days. How many grams of a 256 g sample would remain at the end of 56 days?

User Hieu Pham
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Answer:

Step-by-step explanation:

The decay of a radioactive substance is governed by the formula:N(t) = N₀ e^(-λt)where N₀ is the initial amount of the substance, N(t) is the amount remaining after time t, and λ is the decay constant.The half-life of Iodine-131 is 8 days, which means that after each 8-day period, the amount remaining will be reduced by half. We can use this fact to calculate the amount remaining after 56 days.First, we need to find the decay constant λ, which is related to the half-life by the formula:λ = ln(2) / t½where ln(2) is the natural logarithm of 2, and t½ is the half-life.Substituting the values we have:λ = ln(2) / 8 days ≈ 0.08664 day^(-1)Next, we can use the formula for N(t) to calculate the amount remaining after 56 days:N(56) = N₀ e^(-λt) = 256 g e^(-0.08664 day^(-1) × 56 days) ≈ 22.6 gTherefore, approximately 22.6 grams of the original 256 gram sample would remain after 56 days.

User Bittusarkar
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