Half life questions

[Futuredentguy2015]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I have a hard time with these questions.. I usually always miss them- Can anyone help me by explaining the whole concept of it.. I'm sure i'm going to have a question in chem on it

 

[Daneosaurus]

Basically, for every amount of time, the material loses half of its life. For instance, a material loses half of it's life every 2 years. That means after 2 years, the material has half of its life remaining. 2 years later, it has 1/4 of the original life. Two years later, still, it now has 1/8 of its life from the original 6 years ago.

 

[youngy]

Basically, for every amount of time, the material loses half of its life. For instance, a material loses half of it's life every 2 years. That means after 2 years, the material has half of its life remaining. 2 years later, it has 1/4 of the original life. Two years later, still, it now has 1/8 of its life from the original 6 years ago.

almost, not quite.
Half life means the time it takes for the sample to size to decay to 50% of the original amount, not the lifespan of the sample.

So, if the half life is 2 years and you start with 100%, after 2 years, you will have 50% left, and after 4 years, you will have 12.5% of the original amount.

 

[Daneosaurus]

almost, not quite.
Half life means the time it takes for the sample to size to decay to 50% of the original amount, not the lifespan of the sample.

So, if the half life is 2 years and you start with 100%, after 2 years, you will have 50% left, and after 4 years, you will have 12.5% of the original amount.

Tomato/potato

 

[youngy]

Tomato/potato

Not really, it is really about the amount it decays after certain amount of time, but you described it as losing its life span, which is different.

 

[Daneosaurus]

Not really, it is really about the amount it decays after certain amount of time, but you described it as losing its life span, which is different.

Technically, you are correct. I assumed the OP didn't understand the mathematical concept, so I tried to word it in a way that would be easier to understand. But, yes, it refers to nuclear decay, not the lifespan of animals. OP, I apologize if my wording was confusing or misleading.