The half-life of Californium-250 is approximately 13 years. If it was known that an original sample of 770g was left to decay and was found containing only 13g, how old is the original sample?

Answer :

skyluke89

The radioactive sample has 77 years

Step-by-step explanation:

The radioactive decay of a radioactive isotope is described by the following equation

[tex]m(t)=m_0 e^{-\lambda t}[/tex] (1)

where

[tex]m_0[/tex] is the initial mass of the sample

[tex]\lambda[/tex] is the decay constant

t is the time

The half-life of this sample is

[tex]t_{\frac{1}{2}}=13 y[/tex]

So the decay constant is given by

[tex]\lambda=\frac{ln(2)}{t_{1/2}}=\frac{ln(2)}{13}=0.053 y^{-1}[/tex]

We also know that the original sample had a mass of

[tex]m_0 = 770 g[/tex]

While the final sample has a mass of

[tex]m=13 g[/tex]

Therefore, we can now re-arrange eq.(1) to find the time t:

[tex]-\lambda t = ln(\frac{m}{m_0})\\t=-\frac{ln(\frac{m}{m_0})}{\lambda}=-\frac{ln(13/770))}{0.053}=77 y[/tex]

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