Astatine-219 has a half-life of 56 seconds and undergoes α decay 97% of the time and β- decay the other 3% of the time. A small sample of astatine-219 initially contains 20,000 atoms. d) After four half-lives have passed, how many astatine atoms remain in the sample? ________________________ e) What is the initial activity of the sample? ________________________ f) What will be the activity of the sample after three minutes? _____________
Radioactive decay
The emission of energy to produce ionizing radiation is known as radioactive decay. Alpha, beta particles, and gamma rays are examples of ionizing radiation that could be released. Radioactive decay happens in radionuclides, which are imbalanced atoms. This periodic table's elements come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Several of these kinds are stable like nitrogen-14, hydrogen-2, and potassium-40, whereas others are not like uranium-238. In nature, one of the most stable phases of an element is usually the most prevalent. Every element, meanwhile, has an unstable state. Unstable variants are radioactive and release ionizing radiation. Certain elements, including uranium, have no stable forms and are constantly radioactive. Radionuclides are elements that release ionizing radiation.
Artificial Radioactivity
The radioactivity can be simply referred to as particle emission from nuclei due to the nuclear instability. There are different types of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Along with these there are different types of decay as well.
Astatine-219 has a half-life of 56 seconds and undergoes α decay 97% of the time and β- decay the other 3% of the time. A small sample of astatine-219 initially contains 20,000 atoms. d) After four half-lives have passed, how many astatine atoms remain in the sample? ________________________ e) What is the initial activity of the sample? ________________________ f) What will be the activity of the sample after three minutes? ________________________ g) How long will it take for there to be only 7903 astatine atoms remaining in the sample? __________
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