Radioactive Definition and 391 Threads

I'm looking to simulate a radioactive pile in the context of a simple computer game. The problem is, however, that for various reasons I can't use a straightforward tick-by-tick simulation. Instead I'm looking for an equation that can be solved based on time and would give me the amount of...

The youngest bottom waters in the North Atlantic had a [delta 14 C] value of approx -70o/oo (o/oo being parts per thousand). Bottom waters in the South Pacific have a [delta 14 C] value of -170o/oo, while bottom waters in the North Pacific had a [delta 14 C] value of -230o/oo. a)In the [delta...

I apologize if this is posted in the wrong forum. this may not be calculus but i would appreciate any help solving this equation radioactive decay equation is N=N0e^-(0.693t/T(1/2)) N is the current specific activity value, N0 is the initial specific activity, t is the time or age of the...

Homework Statement Unobtainium is a radioactive (and fictional) element, with its rate of decay being proportional to the amount of Unobtainium, u' = −k u . The half-life of Unobtainium, in other words the time it takes for half the initial amount to decay, is 2.3 × 10^9 yr. (a) Find...

Help! calculating the the activity of a radioactive sample! 1. find activity R 2. the average 70 KF males contain 140 gram of potassium. of this 0.012% is potassium 40. the half life of potassium 40 is 1.2 billion years. so how many K40 decay per second and what is the activity of K40 in...

Homework Statement A source contains two radioactive isotopes of phosphorus. P-32 has a half life of 14.3 days and P-33 has a half-life of 25.3 days. If 10% of the radioactive decays from the source are from P-33 atoms, calculate the ratio of the number of P-33 to P-32 in the source. The...

can help me with this question :S? If 70% of a radioactive substance remains after one year, find its half-life. and Strontium-90 is a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 29 years. If you begin with a sample of 800 units, how long will it take for the amount of radioactivity of the...

Since beta decay emissions are affected strongly by a magnetic field, I am wondering (asking) if there has been any investigation into an oscillating (reversing) magnetic field, applied to a test sample under pressure, inducing a beta decay in a test sample. TIA, Gordon

Hello All, Just from the stand-point of the Sun itself and it's environment, is it possible or not to utilize the Sun to safely dispose of spent radioactive waste fuel from reactors and what would be the possible ramafications (positive or negative) for the Earth and it's environment as a...

Hello, I'd like to know when the formula N(t)=N_0e^{-\lambda t} is not valid anymore. By that I mean... since N_0 is the number of atoms at time t=0 and N(t) is the number of atoms at time "t", we see that N(t) depends of N_0. Now my question is : how do you know how many atoms should we take...

I am new to this forum, and I am not a physics major. I simply had a thought earlier today of why radioactive energy, in particular gamma rays, can't be converted into usable energy. If some gamma rays are emitted as photons, couldn't one simply use solar panels as a means of capturing the...

Homework Statement *I'm only stuck on part c During the testing process for some pharmaceuticals, the drug is "tagged" with a radioactive material. This way researchers can determine if the pharmaceutical is going to other parts of the body than the intended target and what effect it has on...

One thing that is really confusing me is Beta Particles. This site states that Beta Particles are electrons that are shot out of the nucleus (atomic core) of an atom. http://home.clara.net/darvill/nucrad/morebeta.htm To rationalize this claim it states that a neutron will decay to a...

If I came into accidental contact with a radioactive substance, and it got say on my hands and watch. Obviously I can wash my hands off, but also could I ujust wipe the contamination off the watch? Or would it remain contaminated? Thanks.

As I understand it, in all forms of radioactive decay, constrained by E=mc^2, a spontaneous breakdown of an element or isotope occurs: that is, a massive element (parent) decays to a less massive element, isotope or leptons [daughter(s)], plus a release of energy. However, in alpha decay, the...

If someone unknowlingly touch a radioactive substance or source, would their skin or hands then be radioactive? And also-could you spread contamination if you touched a solid source? or it could only spread in powder form? what is the likelihood of becoming contaminated by a source for a normal...

Hi there, I was wondering if anyone could help me with this question ... "A device used in radiation therapy for cancer contains 0.50g of cobalt (60-Co-27). The half life of cobolt is 5.27 years. Determine the activity of the radioactive material." Working out: (To find the decay...

I know this will sound nuts, because it kind of is, but I though maybe someone could talk some sense into me. I suffer from ocd and irrational fears about radioactive substances. I realize that we are surrounded by and constantly bombarded by radiation. That doesn't bother me. Nor does having...

What lead them to use e and the natural log of 2 in the decay formula? A much simpler (to me at least) method would is: N=No*.5^(time/half life)

Homework Statement Thorium (with half-life T1/2 = 1.913 yr. and atomic mass 228.028715 u) undergoes alpha decay and produces radium (atomic mass 224.020186 u) as a daughter nucleus. (Assume the alpha particle has atomic mass 4.002603 u.) The energy released from the decay of 0.6 g of...

[SOLVED] Radioactivity and radioactive decay Homework Statement Thorium (with half-life T1/2 = 1.913 yr. and atomic mass 228.028715 u) undergoes alpha decay and produces radium (atomic mass 224.020186 u) as a daughter nucleus. (Assume the alpha particle has atomic mass 4.002603 u.) What...

[SOLVED] Radioactive decay. Is energy released? OPINION PLEASE! This is my last question in my last Physics exam! YES! I'M ALMOST DONE! :smile: I would just like your opinion on this question... My answer is Yes... But sometimes I think it should be NO because of the question's option for a No...

1. surface water contains enough tritium to show 5.5 decays events per minute per 100. g of water. Tritium has a half-life of 12.3 years. You are asked to check a vintage wine that is claimed to have been produced in 1946. How many decay events per minute should you expect to observe in 100.g of...

Homework Statement If A is the amount of radioactive material present at time t, A_0_ was the amount present at t=0, and h is the materials half-life, then A=A_0_ 2^-t/h Carbon-14 Dating: How old is a wooden statue that remains only one-third of its original carbon-14 content...

I was just wondering if nuclear fusion is considered a radioactive process?

Homework Statement An element of atomic number 82 and mass number 214 decays radioactively to an element of atomic number 82 and mass number 210. Which of the following emissions achieve this result? Check all that apply. a. four beta particles b. two beta particles and one alpha...

I am not sure if I should be using this board or the nuclear board but I chose this board because it is for class work. Anyways over the past few months I have been collecting data from radioactive sources (Th-230, Am-241, Po-210, Pu-238). Now I understand that the number of events divided by...

Homework Statement Let's consider a radioactive decay according to the attached figure. A particle of initial mass M and charge Q is resting according to a referential R and disintegrates itself on 3 identical particles. As shown in the picture, 2 of the particles have known speeds 4c/5 and...

Total Frustration!Radioactive Decay!Need Fast Help! Hello, I have the link to the excercise: http://www.sciencecourseware.org/VirtualDating/files/RC_6.php" Here are my answers: 1. 1200 2. 2100 3.3800 4.14500 5.1125 6. 2050 7. ? I would think (7) would be 3775, but it's not...

[SOLVED] Radioactive decay Hi guys, this is just a basic maths incompetency. I hope someone can guide me forwards! (Slack biology student, delving into physics) I can do (a) with no problems, and thus I can probably do the latter half of (b) and (c) without issue. My stumbling point is...

1. hi i would like to now how i could do this? the question says: iodine-131 is a radiactive element used in the medical diagnosis and treatment of thyroid problems. iodine-131 undergoes simultaneous beta and gamma decay and has a half-life of 8.00 days. 2.im ask to write the complete...

[SOLVED] Radioactive Dating with Potassium Argon Homework Statement The technique known as potassium-argon dating is used to date old lava flows. The potassium isotope ^{40}{\rm K} has a 1.28 billion year half-life and is naturally present at very low levels. ^{40}{\rm K} decays by beta...

Hello, this is my first time posting... We're working on a cartoon for science class, and I was wondering if anyone knew the answer to a bit of a dilemma I have... If you take a single fragile, radioactive element and bond it with another fragile, radioactive element, is there a good...

I think there was a an error made in my physics book. It says alpha particles are fired at beyllium nuclei to induce the reaction Be He C + n Calculate the maximum kinetic energy of the neutron in MeV. Im guessing it means Be + He = C + n This makes the atomic numbers and mass numbers on...

[SOLVED] Radioactive decay. Given Ax, Ay and t½ for Y, get t½ for X. Not possible? Homework Statement This is from Advanced Physics by Adams & Allday, spread 8.13 Question 1. The activity of 20 g of element X is four times the activity of 10 g of element Y. Element Y has a half-life of...

If I know that a sample of X has a half-life of 270 years how do I confirm this experimentally? What data would I have to collect? How about if the half-life of X was much shorter i.e. in terms of days?

Is there any theory that predicts the halflife of a radioisotope given the number of neutrons and protons in the element? For example, given X protons and Y neutrons, is there anything other than empirical data to predict when half of a given sample will decay? I know there are isalnds of...

i heard that there is an idea (i don't know if it's true) that we can make ANY ELEMENT radioactive! and i thought "wtf"!

I was doing a little research, and found out that 95% of fission radioactive waste is High Level Waste. Of course this waste is very dangerous, but it emits so much energy in radiation, can't we harness it in, say, a radioisotope thermoelectric generator and hook it up to the power grid? I...

This is the question which I'm working on: When an animal dies the radioctive carbon content of its body has an activity of 12 counts per gram per minute. Some animal remains are found to have an activity of 3 counts per gram per minute. If the half life of radioactive carbon id 5000 years,how...

Hello, Based on a starting isotope, isotope mass, and duration of time, what calculations would be used to find the mass remaining of each individual nuclide in the decay chain after the time period? I think that the rate at which the final product is formed depends most on the nuclide with...

i was watching a documentary about the red rain in India when the host mentioned as a side note that they had found micro organisms living on the burned out fuel rods in highly alcaline waters in the nuclear waste deposit. Does anyone know the specifics of this discovery? what I am wondering...

Im not sure if this is a bad question but what is radioactive decay and why is it so important they needed a new force to explain it. It might just be me but compared to the other three forces its existence seems miniscule. (just turned 14 so am still in stupid integrated science for eighth graders)

I got some questions about radioactive decay: Do all atoms decay radioactive particles, only in a higher or lesser degree? I heard that atoms that have more protons (higher in the periodic system) than led, emit radioactive decay, and then stop at led. Does that mean that led does not emit...

What is the proper use and meaning of "Radioactive decay"? How much decay HAS occured This is a second thread to clarify my first thread about a debate with my biology teacher. I went back in an edited the content and title but it still posts under my original title anyway,,,, what...

My teacher said that if an isotope has a neutron to proton ratio that is greater than 1.2 it is radio active, but he said there is one exception when the ratio is lower than 1.2 .. something about the isotope being synthetic. Can someone help me an explain exactly what this exception is...

My teacher mentioned that if an element has a neutron to proton ratio of 1.2 or higher than the element is radioactive. He also said there is on exception to this when the N/P ratio is lower than 1.2, but i didnt understand him. I cannot find this one exception in my book or on the internet. Can...

A question was originally put in the homework help forum "1 gramm radiates 3,7*10^10 alpha-particles in a second. Find out the half-life" At a glance it looks simple. You start with X number of AMU, it's radiating at a rate of Y, find out how long it takes to get to 0.5X; right? Then I...

I just want to make sure I just formulted a valid statement: Two samples contain different radioactive isotopes. It is not possible for these samples to have the same activity because each isotope radioactive isotopes change their composition at different rates. Anyone able to agree with...

A sample of tritium 3 decayed to 94.5% of its original amount after a year. (a) What is the half-life of tritium-3? (b) How long would it take the sample to decay to 20% of its original amount? The only equations given in my book are dm/dt = km and m(t) =...