just as physicists have determined the half lives of all the elements, can we assume there's is such a thing as a millionth life for each element as well? and would that mean that 500,000 millionth lives is equal to that of one half life? certainly, it would be much easier to measure a millionth life for an element whose half life is on the order of millions of years.
2007-11-04 13:34:51 · 4 answers · asked by just curious (A.A.A.A.) 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
"500,000 millionth lives is equal to that of one half life."
This is not true.
Two 1/2^2 = 1/4 life = one half life
Three 1/2^3 = 1/8 life = one half life
So 1/1000000 = 1/2^x gives x millionth life = one half life
=> x
= log 1000000 to the base 2
= log 1000000 to the base 10 * log 10 to the base 2
= 6 / 0.30103
= 20 (nearly)
Hence, 20 millionth lives = one half life.
2007-11-04 13:48:34 · answer #1 · answered by Madhukar 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
There ARE millionth lives, however Madhukar Daftary is correct when he says that 500000 millionth lives and 1 half life are not the same length of time.
2007-11-04 22:07:39 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
I believe that principle to be true, but keeping a uniform unit of decay such as a half life allows us to picture more easily, how long each element takes to decay compared to other elements
i.e The halflife of Marmite is years (for some) , whereas the halflife of chocolate can be defined in seconds! Only joking, but I'm sure you get my drift?!!
2007-11-04 21:53:20 · answer #3 · answered by bluespeedbird 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I think you are in a better category for this question now ; )
2007-11-04 21:42:19 · answer #4 · answered by Nina, BaC 7 · 0⤊ 1⤋