Consider the following scenario: A sample of radioactive material has a decay constant of 0.01 per day. If there are initially 100 grams of the material, what equation would you use to determine how much will remain after 50 days?(1 point)

Responses

y=100(0.99)50
y equals 100 left parenthesis 0.99 right parenthesis superscript 50 baseline

y=50(0.01)100
y equals 50 left parenthesis 0.01 right parenthesis superscript 100 baseline

y=100(0.01)50
y equals 100 left parenthesis 0.01 right parenthesis superscript 50 baseline

y=50(0.99)100

1 answer

To determine how much of the radioactive material will remain after 50 days, you can use the exponential decay formula:

\[ y = y_0 e^{-\lambda t} \]

where:

  • \(y\) is the remaining quantity,
  • \(y_0\) is the initial quantity,
  • \(\lambda\) is the decay constant,
  • \(t\) is the time in days.

In your scenario:

  • \(y_0 = 100\) grams (initial amount),
  • \(\lambda = 0.01\) per day (decay constant),
  • \(t = 50\) days.

Plugging in the values:

\[ y = 100 e^{-0.01 \times 50} \]

However, since the responses provided do not use the natural exponential function, we can convert the decay constant to a form that uses a decay factor. The decay factor can be found as follows:

\[ \text{Decay factor} = e^{-\lambda} \approx 1 - \lambda \quad (\text{for small } \lambda) \]

For small decay constants, we can approximate \(e^{-0.01} \approx 0.99\), leading us to the equivalent equation:

\[ y \approx 100(0.99)^{50} \]

Thus, the correct equation from your responses to determine how much will remain after 50 days is:

\[ y = 100(0.99)^{50} \]

Therefore, the answer is:

\[ y=100(0.99)^{50} \]