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Suppose a small quantity of radon gas, which has a half-life of 3.8 days, is accidentally released into the air in a laboratory. If the resulting radiation level is 20% above the safe level, how long should the laboratory remain vacated? (Hint: To start with, determine what fraction of the "resulting radiation level" is the maximum safe level.)

Answer :

Answer:

1 day

Explanation:

Let the safe level = x

The current level = x + 0.2x = 1.2 x

Thus,

Half life = 3.8 days

[tex]t_{1/2}=\frac {ln\ 2}{k}[/tex]

Where, k is rate constant

So,  

[tex]k=\frac {ln\ 2}{t_{1/2}}[/tex]

[tex]k=\frac {ln\ 2}{3.8}\ days^{-1}[/tex]

The rate constant, k = 0.1824 days⁻¹

Using integrated rate law for first order kinetics as:

[tex][A_t]=[A_0]e^{-kt}[/tex]

Where,  

[tex][A_t][/tex] is the concentration at time t

[tex][A_0][/tex] is the initial concentration

So,

[tex]\frac {[A_t]}{[A_0]}[/tex] = x / 1.2 x = 0.8333

t = ?

[tex]\frac {[A_t]}{[A_0]}=e^{-k\times t}[/tex]

[tex]0.8333=e^{-0.1824\times t}[/tex]

t ≅ 1 day

Lab must be vacated in 1 day.

If the resulting radiation level is 20% above the safe level, then in 1 day lab laboratory must be remained vacated.

What is half-lives?

Half lives are the time interval which is need to decay the atomic nuclei of a radioactive sample.

The half life is 3.8 days. Thus, the rate constant can be found out using the following formula.

[tex]k=\dfrac{0.693}{3.8}\\k=0.1824[/tex]

Let concentration at a time t is x. If the resulting radiation level is 20% above the safe level, then the initial concentration will be 1.2x.

The ratio of concentration at time t and initial concentration can be given as,

[tex]\dfrac{x}{1.2x}=e^{-kt}\\0.8333=e^{-0.1824t}\\t \approx 1[/tex]

Hence, if the resulting radiation level is 20% above the safe level, then in 1 day lab laboratory must be remained vacated.

Learn more about the half lives here;

https://brainly.com/question/2320811

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