Radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium actually decrease in mass ove
ID: 1887540 • Letter: R
Question
Radioactive elements such as uranium and plutonium actually decrease in mass over a period of time. The half life of an element is the length of time required for the mass of an element to decay to one half the original amount. Suppose a nuclear storage site has been contaminated by 100 kg of radioactive plutonium. The half life of plutonium is 24360 years. the equation relating the mass (m) of the plutonium to the elapsed time (t) is t = (24360/ ln0.5)ln(m/100). How long would it take for the 100 kg of plutonium to decay to 50 kg?Explanation / Answer
for m = 50kg
t = -[24360 /ln0.5] x ln(50/100)
= 24360 years
which is same as the half life.
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