easy half life problem i can't do!

Started by msu08
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.
Get help with your application

Use all the free resources available to you from SDN: articles, guides, expert advising, forums discussions, and school research.

msu08

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Advertisement - Members don't see this ad
If the half-life of an isotopic nuclide is 24 hours, how long will it take for 75% of the sample to decay?



A. 12 hours
B. 24 hours
C. 36 hours
D. 48 hours
E. 60 hours

The answer is 48... i got 36..anyone understand this problem?
 
any halflife problem that I ever reviewed or did on the DAT the two times that I took it did not require any equation, but rather only common sense and reasoning as in this one.
 
I know exactly what mistake u r making. U skipped 1 step.
U r going directly from 100% to 25%.
Just like a math problem.
0 ==> 50 miles takes 24 hrs.
how long will it take for u to go from 0 to 75 mile and answer would be 36 hrs.
But that's not the way to solve this problem.
Above method is assuming that ur speed never change.
but think about a crappy car that slows down speed in half after half life 😀