Every chemical element goes through natural exponential decay, which means that over time its atoms fall apart. The speed of each element's decay is described by its half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for the number of radioactive atoms of this element to be reduced by half.The half-life of the isotope dubnium−263 is 29 seconds. A sample of dubnium- 263 was first measured to have 1024 atoms. After t seconds, there were only 32 atoms of this isotope remaining.Write an equation in terms of t that models the situation.
Q. Every chemical element goes through natural exponential decay, which means that over time its atoms fall apart. The speed of each element's decay is described by its half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for the number of radioactive atoms of this element to be reduced by half.The half-life of the isotope dubnium−263 is 29 seconds. A sample of dubnium- 263 was first measured to have 1024 atoms. After t seconds, there were only 32 atoms of this isotope remaining.Write an equation in terms of t that models the situation.
Question Prompt: Question prompt: Write an equation in terms of t that models the decay of dubnium-263 atoms over time.
Identify Initial Quantity and Half-life: Identify the initial quantity a and the half-life b. The initial quantity of dubnium−263 atoms is given as 1024. The half-life of dubnium−263 is 29 seconds. a=1024b=29 seconds
Determine Decay Factor: Determine the decay factor per half-life. Since the quantity of atoms is halved every half-life, the decay factor is 21.
Write Exponential Decay Formula: Write the exponential decay formula.The general formula for exponential decay is y=a(21)bt, where y is the remaining quantity after time t, a is the initial quantity, and b is the half-life.
Substitute Known Values: Substitute the known values into the formula.We know that a=1024 and b=29. We want to find the equation that models the situation after t seconds when the remaining quantity is y.y=1024(1/2)(t/29)
Verify Equation: Verify the equation with the given condition.We are given that after t seconds, there are only 32 atoms remaining. Let's check if the equation works for this condition.32=1024(1/2)t/29(1/2)t/29=32/1024(1/2)t/29=1/32Since 32 is 25 and 1024 is 210, we can rewrite the equation as:(1/2)t/29=(1/2)5320321322The equation holds true for the given condition, so there is no math error.
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