2007-08-14 10:51:56 · 7 answers · asked by ? 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
The time taken for half of the sample to decompose.
2007-08-14 10:56:17 · answer #1 · answered by Gervald F 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Only radioactive elements have half lives. The half life of an element is the time it takes for half the element to decay. The rate that this happens depends on the element. The carbon used in carbon dating has a half life of 8000 years, i believe. Other element have a half life of less than a second. The rate is like a reverse exponential growth, because the less of an element there is the faster it will decay.
2007-08-14 11:01:36 · answer #2 · answered by Smoky Joe 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Elements are very stable. However, radioactive isotopes are not stable and decay to a stable energy level.
The decay of a radioactive elements is not quite understood by science except that the decay rate is proportional to the mass remaining.
So anything that decays in proportional to itself is an Eingenfunction and in radioactive decay it follows the Rules of an exponential function.
So the decay time which indicates half the mass of the isotope on the decaying exponential curve is called the Half life of that particular isotope.
However decay constant are not exact and are based on probability.
Therefore there could be other factors that slows down the decay after creation of the mass structure.
We are only able to analyse in terms of the present what happened in the past and we can be wrong.
Hence analysing decay rates using Eingenfunctions may not be foolproof after all.
2007-08-14 11:14:30 · answer #3 · answered by goring 6 · 0⤊ 1⤋
One has to be more precise when defining "half". Half life is typically used as applied to a radioactive element, and it's time it takes for exactly one half of the nuclei in a given sample to undergo radioactive decay.
2007-08-14 10:59:32 · answer #4 · answered by stopwar11112 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I have never heard of any way to modify the radioactive half-life of the elements based on temperature. It doesn't seem to fit into any plausible framework for understanding nuclear reactions that I've ever heard of. I don't find the article by Baumgarten particularly convincing.
2016-03-12 23:15:00 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
That is how long it takes for half of the atoms to lose proton(s) and become another element.
2007-08-14 10:56:44 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 2⤋
a half-life is a lenth of time for half of thee sample of a radioisitope[deff spelt that wrong] to decay.
2007-08-14 13:03:05 · answer #7 · answered by J c0uture 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋