Question

Radium-226 has a half life of 1622 years. If you start off with a 200

kilogram sample, how much Radium-226 will be left after 5000 years

Answer 1

≈23.6 kg left.

Explanation:

For determining this, we can simply use an exponential decay equation representing this scenario:

`y= a(0.5)^{(t)/(h) }`

a: the initial amount

t: the amount of time

h: the half life

Now, substitute the numbers into the equation:

`y=200(0.5)^{(5000)/(1622) }`

Now, solve this equation:

`y=220(0.5)^(3.08)`

Use a calculator to solve for y:

y= 200(0.118)

y≈23.6 kg left.