Question

A radioactive substance disintegrates into two types of daughter nuclei, one type with disintegration constant λ₁ and the other type with disintegration constant λ₂ . Determine the half-life of the radioactive substance.

Answer 1

\[\ce{X ->[\lambda_{1}]D_1}\]
\[\ce{X ->[\lambda_{2}]D_2}\]
`lambda_"effective" = lambda_1 + lambda_2`
half life `(t_(1/2)) = ("In" 2)/(lambda_"effective") = (0.693)/(lambda_1+lambda_2`