Question

Dr. Banner monitored the decay of a new type of recyclable material he developed for his

gamma radiation study. He noted that the decay of the material could be modeled by the
function f(x) = 100(0.98). What is the rate of decay of Dr. Banner's material?

Answer 1

The rate of decay is:
`2\%`

Explanation:

Exponential functions are modeled by:

`f(x) = a(b)^x`

Where
`a` is the y-intercept and b is the growth or decay constant. If
`b` is less than one, the function decays. If
`b` is greater than 1, the function grows.

To calculate the percentage, subtract
`b` from 1:

`\% = 1 - b\\\% = 1 - 0.98\\\% = 0.02`

Multiply the result by 100 to get the percentage.

`0.02 * 100 = 2\%`