Chapter 20, Problem 20.3P

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The half-life of mercury-197 needs to be determined, if the decay constant of mercury-197 is $\text{1}{\text{.08 × 10}}^{\text{-2}}{\text{ h}}^{\text{-1}}$.

Concept introduction:

The nuclear reactions are a type of chemical process which leads to the formation of some new nuclei with the emission of certain particles. Usually, alpha or beta particles or gamma rays are emitted as a side product with some new daughter nuclei. The nuclear reactions follow the conservation of atomic number and mass number of nuclei. It means the sum of the mass number on both sides should be the same and the sum of the atomic number of nuclei should be the same on both sides.