A pure sample of tritium, 3H, was prepared and sealed in a container for a number of years. Tritium undergoes â decay with a half-life of 12.32 years. How long has the container been sealed if analysis of the contents shows there are 5.25 mol of 3H and 6.35 mol of 3He present?
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14.1
The age of wine can be determined by measuring the trace amount of radioactive tritium, 3H, present in a sample. Tritium is formed from hydrogen in water vapor in the upper atmosphere by cosmic bombardment, so all naturally ocurring water contains a small amount of this isotope. Once the water is in a bottle of wine, however, the formation of additional tritium from the water is negligible, so the tritium initially present gradually diminishes by a first-order radioactive decay with a half-life of 12.5 years. If a bottle of wine is found to have a tritium concentration that is 0.116 that of freshly bottled wine (i.e. [3H]t = 0.116 [3H]0), what is the age of the wine?
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