To determine the percentage of technetium-99m left in the patient's body after 12 hours, we need to calculate how many half-lives have passed.
Given that the half-life of technetium-99m is 6 hours, we divide 12 hours by 6 hours per half-life:
12 hours / 6 hours per half-life = 2 half-lives.
For each half-life, the amount of technetium-99m is reduced by half. Therefore, after two half-lives, the amount remaining is:
(1/2) * (1/2) = 1/4 = 0.25
So, about 25% of the technetium-99m will be left in the patient's body after 12 hours.
Technetium-99m is a radioactive isotope commonly used in medicine as a radioactive tracer. A radioactive tracer is an isotope injected into the body to help create images for diagnosis of health problems. Technetium-99m has a half-life of 6 hours. If a patient receives a dose of technetium-99m one morning, about what percentage of the technetium-99m will be left in the patient's body 12 hours later?
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