Exponential law of decay

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9 Terms

1
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What can we predict in radioactivity?

Number of nuclei decayed at a certain time (we cannot predict when they will occur)

2
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What is activity?

the number of nuclei that decay each second

3
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What is activity proportional to?

Size of the sample

4
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What is the decay constant?

the probability that a given nucleus will decay each second

5
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Activity equation

A = -dN/dt = decay constant (N)

6
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What happens to the number of undecayed nuclei left in the sample?

It exponentially decreases

7
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Decay equations

A = A0e^-decayconstant(t)

N = N0e^-decayconstant(t)

8
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What is a half life?

The average time is takes for the number of unstable nuclei to half

9
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How can we find half life?

  • Finding the time it takes for count rate to half

  • Find count rate over time by finding the number of counts over the time the measurement is taken

  • Substrate the background count rate from this

  • Plot on a graph

  • Using an exponential graph we can read off the time where the number has halved

  • Use decay constant = ln2/half life