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An isotope decays at a rate of -0.0049% per year. Find the half life. (show the work)

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Answer:

14,146 years

Explanation:

The annual multiplier is (1 -0.0049%) = 0.999951. We want to find the number of times this needs to be multiplied to make the product 1/2.

0.5 = 0.999951^t

log(0.5) = t·log(0.999951)

log(0.5)/log(0.999951) = t ≈ 14,145.514

The half-life is about 14,146 years.

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