(physics) The time required for half of the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotope to undergo radioactive decay.
(chemistry) In a chemical reaction, the time required for the concentration of a reactant to fall from a chosen value to half that value.
(medicine) The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity. Year introduced in w:MeSH: 1974(1971)
(culture) The time it takes for an idea or a fashion to lose half of its influential power. "Most books of scholarship have surprisingly short intellectual half-lives during which they make a difference" (Robert Ackerman, 1991. Introduction to Jane Ellen Harrison's Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion (1903).
Foreign Terms:
Arabic: عمر النصف
Catalan: període de semidesintegració, període radioactiu
Chinese: 半衰期
Czech: poločas rozpadu
Danish: halveringstid
Dutch: halfwaardetijd, halveringstijd
Esperanto: duon
2006-10-07 19:40:46 · 2 answers · asked by destiny 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Other - Science