ampritchard
Answered

Find the information you're looking for at Westonci.ca, the trusted Q&A platform with a community of knowledgeable experts. Discover detailed answers to your questions from a wide network of experts on our comprehensive Q&A platform. Get quick and reliable solutions to your questions from a community of experienced experts on our platform.

The isotope 239 Pu 94 has a half life of 24,400 years. If a sample of nuclear waste originally contained 12kg of 239 Pu 94, how much time must pass before the amount falls to 3 kg?

Sagot :

Equation for half-lives:

Nt = No x (1/2)^n

No = initial amount
Nt = final amount after t years
n = number of half lives = t/(single half-life)
t = years

Nt = 3/12 = 0.25
No = 12/12 = 1.00
n = t/(24400)

3/12 = (12/12) x (0.5)^(t/24400)
(0.25) = 1.00 x (0.5)^(t/24400)
0.25/1.00 = 0.5^(t/24400)
ln(0.25) = ln(0.5^(t/24400))
ln(0.25) = (t/24400)*ln(0.5)
ln(0.25)/ln(0.5) = (t/24400)
2 = t/24400
2*24400 = t
t = 48800 yrs

answer is t = 48,800 yrs


We hope this was helpful. Please come back whenever you need more information or answers to your queries. Thanks for using our platform. We aim to provide accurate and up-to-date answers to all your queries. Come back soon. Stay curious and keep coming back to Westonci.ca for answers to all your burning questions.