English

Obtain an expression for the half-lifetime of radioactive material. Hence state the relation between an average life and half lifetime of radioactive material. - Physics

Advertisements
Advertisements

Questions

Obtain an expression for the half-lifetime of radioactive material. Hence state the relation between an average life and half life time of radioactive material.

Derive an expression for ‘Half Life Time’ of a radioactive material using the ‘Law of Radioactive Decay’.

Derivation
Advertisements

Solution

Expression for half-life period (T1/2): 

From the law of radioactive decay,

N = N0 e⁻λT    ...(i)

where,

N → is the number of nuclei present at any instant ‘t’

N0 → is the number of parent atoms at time ‘t’ = 0

λ → is Decay constant.

Substituting N = `N_0/2` and t = T1/2  ....(where T is half life period) in equation (i),

`"N"_0/2 = "N"_0  e^(-λT)`

`1/2 = e^(-λT)`

∴ 2 = eλT

Taking log on both sides,

∴ loge 2 = λT1/2

∴ λT1/2 = loge2 = 2.303 log102

∴ λT1/2 = 2.303 × 0.3010

∴ T1/2 = `0.693/λ`

This is the required relation for the half-life in terms of the decay constant of a radioactive element.

Relation between average life (τ) and a half lifetime of radioactive material:

T1/2 = τ ln 2 = 0.693 τ

shaalaa.com

Notes

Students should refer to the answer according to the question.

Radioactive Decays
  Is there an error in this question or solution?
Chapter 15: Structure of Atoms and Nuclei - Short Answer II

APPEARS IN

SCERT Maharashtra Physics [English] 12 Standard HSC
Chapter 15 Structure of Atoms and Nuclei
Short Answer II | Q 4

RELATED QUESTIONS

Complete the following equation describing nuclear decay.

\[\ce{_7^12N -> _6^12C {+}}\] ______


Choose the correct option.

\[\ce{^60_27CO}\] decays with a half-life of 5.27 years to produce \[\ce{^60_28Ni}\]. What is the decay constant for such radioactive disintegration?


Write relation between decay constant of a radioelement and its half-life.


Decay constant of 197Hg is 0.017 h-1. What is its half-life?


The half-life of 18F is 110 minutes. What fraction of 18F sample decays in 20 minutes?


The half-life of 35S is 87.8 d. What percentage of 35S sample remains after 180 d?


0.5 g sample of 201Tl decays to 0.0788 g in 8 days. What is its half-life?


A sample of 32P initially shows activity of one Curie. After 303 days, the activity falls to 1.5 × 104 dps. What is the half-life of 32P?


In Hydrogen, the electron jumps from the fourth orbit to the second orbit. The wavenumber of the radiations emitted by an electron is ______  


The half-life of a certain radioactive species is 6.93 × 105 seconds. What is the decay constant?  


Show that half life period of radioactive material varies inversely to decay constant λ.


The half-life of a certain radioactive nucleus is 3.2 days. Calculate (i) decay constant (ii) average life of radioactive nucleus.


A radioactive substance decays to (1/10)th of its original value in 56 days. Calculate its decay constant. 


The rate of radioactive disintegration at an instant for a radioactive sample of half-life 2.2 x 109 s is 1010 s-1. The number of radioactive atoms in that sample at that instant is, ______ 


Most excited states of an atom have life times of about ____________.


A radioactive substance has half life of 3 hours. 75 % of the substance would decay in ____________.


What is alpha decay?


A radioactive element has rate of disintegration 10,000 disintegrations per minute at a particular instant. After four minutes it become 2500 disintegrations per minute. The decay constant per minute is ______.


For radioactive substances, the fraction of its initial quantity (N0) which will disintegrate in its average lifetime is about ______.

(e = 2.71)


The activity of a radioactive substance decreases by a factor of 32 in one hour. The half-life of the substance (in min) is ______.


The graph obtained by plotting loge (A) [A is the activity of a radioactive sample] against t (time) out of the following is:


The disintegration rate of a radio-active sample is 1010 per hour at 20 hours from the start. It reduces to 5 × 109 per hour after 30 hours. Calculate the decay constant.


Show that the number of nuclei of a radioactive material decreases exponentially with time.


Define half-life period.


In one mean lifetime of a radioactive element the fraction of the nuclei that has disintegrated is ______. [e is the base of natural logarithm]


Share
Notifications

Englishहिंदीमराठी


      Forgot password?
Use app×