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SUDOnym
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Problem is:
have a mother and daughter sample, [tex]A[/tex] and [tex]B[/tex] respectively. both are radioactive. The number of daughter nuclei at time t is given by (*):
[tex]n(t)=\frac{N_{0}\lambda_{A}}{\lambda_{B}-\lambda_{A}}[e^{-\lambda_{A}t}-e^{-\lambda_{B}t}][/tex]
where N_0 is number of mother nuclei at t=0 and n(t) is number of daughter nuclei at time t.
A has [tex]\tau_{\frac{1}{2}}=23minutes[/tex] and B has [tex]\tau_{\frac{1}{2}}=23days[/tex].
A is beta only emitter. B emits gamma and Beta. If A has been made and purified and 11.5minutes after this, the sample emits 1000 gammas/second and some time later the sample again emits 1000 gammas/second - how much time has elapsed?
My Thoughts:
I don't know how to handle this problem for the following reason: To find the rate of gammas being emitter, simply differentiate the equation I showed above (*) to get:
[tex]\frac{dn}{dt}=\frac{N_{0}\lambda_{A}}{\lambda_{B}-\lambda_{A}}[-\lambda_{A}e^{-\lambda_{A}t}+\lambda_{B}e^{-\lambda_{B}t}][/tex]
(note can find the lambda_A and lambda_B as we know the half-llife and can also solve (*) for N_0).
The time dependence of the above equation is a negative exponential... so to solve for t, do some rearranging, and take the natural log... but this will be a linear equation... ie. there will only be one value of t for any dn/dt so it is not clear to me how at 11.5mins can have 1000 gammas/second and then again some time later can also have 1000 gammas/second.
What to do?
have a mother and daughter sample, [tex]A[/tex] and [tex]B[/tex] respectively. both are radioactive. The number of daughter nuclei at time t is given by (*):
[tex]n(t)=\frac{N_{0}\lambda_{A}}{\lambda_{B}-\lambda_{A}}[e^{-\lambda_{A}t}-e^{-\lambda_{B}t}][/tex]
where N_0 is number of mother nuclei at t=0 and n(t) is number of daughter nuclei at time t.
A has [tex]\tau_{\frac{1}{2}}=23minutes[/tex] and B has [tex]\tau_{\frac{1}{2}}=23days[/tex].
A is beta only emitter. B emits gamma and Beta. If A has been made and purified and 11.5minutes after this, the sample emits 1000 gammas/second and some time later the sample again emits 1000 gammas/second - how much time has elapsed?
My Thoughts:
I don't know how to handle this problem for the following reason: To find the rate of gammas being emitter, simply differentiate the equation I showed above (*) to get:
[tex]\frac{dn}{dt}=\frac{N_{0}\lambda_{A}}{\lambda_{B}-\lambda_{A}}[-\lambda_{A}e^{-\lambda_{A}t}+\lambda_{B}e^{-\lambda_{B}t}][/tex]
(note can find the lambda_A and lambda_B as we know the half-llife and can also solve (*) for N_0).
The time dependence of the above equation is a negative exponential... so to solve for t, do some rearranging, and take the natural log... but this will be a linear equation... ie. there will only be one value of t for any dn/dt so it is not clear to me how at 11.5mins can have 1000 gammas/second and then again some time later can also have 1000 gammas/second.
What to do?
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