Question
Suppose you started with a sample that contained 4 grams of strontium-90. How long would it take until there was only 1 gram of strontium-90 in the sample?
Answers
GPT-4o mini
Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope that has a half-life of about 28.8 years. The half-life is the amount of time required for half of the radioactive substance to decay.
To determine how long it will take for a sample of strontium-90 to decay from 4 grams to 1 gram, we will use the concept of half-lives.
1. Start with 4 grams of strontium-90.
2. After one half-life (28.8 years), you would have 2 grams remaining.
3. After another half-life (another 28.8 years), you would have 1 gram remaining.
So, it will take 2 half-lives to go from 4 grams to 1 gram:
\[
2 \times 28.8 \, \text{years} = 57.6 \, \text{years}
\]
Therefore, it would take 57.6 years for the sample to decay from 4 grams to 1 gram of strontium-90.
To determine how long it will take for a sample of strontium-90 to decay from 4 grams to 1 gram, we will use the concept of half-lives.
1. Start with 4 grams of strontium-90.
2. After one half-life (28.8 years), you would have 2 grams remaining.
3. After another half-life (another 28.8 years), you would have 1 gram remaining.
So, it will take 2 half-lives to go from 4 grams to 1 gram:
\[
2 \times 28.8 \, \text{years} = 57.6 \, \text{years}
\]
Therefore, it would take 57.6 years for the sample to decay from 4 grams to 1 gram of strontium-90.