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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.

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.\newlineThe half-life of the isotope dubnium263-263 is 2929 seconds. A sample of dubnium- 263263 was first measured to have 10241024 atoms. After t t seconds, there were only 3232 atoms of this isotope remaining.\newlineWrite an equation in terms of t t that models the situation.

Full solution

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.\newlineThe half-life of the isotope dubnium263-263 is 2929 seconds. A sample of dubnium- 263263 was first measured to have 10241024 atoms. After t t seconds, there were only 3232 atoms of this isotope remaining.\newlineWrite an equation in terms of t t that models the situation.
  1. Question Prompt: Question prompt: Write an equation in terms of tt that models the decay of dubnium-263263 atoms over time.
  2. Identify Initial Quantity and Half-life: Identify the initial quantity aa and the half-life bb. The initial quantity of dubnium263-263 atoms is given as 10241024. The half-life of dubnium263-263 is 2929 seconds. a=1024a = 1024 b=29b = 29 seconds
  3. Determine Decay Factor: Determine the decay factor per half-life. Since the quantity of atoms is halved every half-life, the decay factor is 12\frac{1}{2}.
  4. Write Exponential Decay Formula: Write the exponential decay formula.\newlineThe general formula for exponential decay is y=a(12)tby = a(\frac{1}{2})^{\frac{t}{b}}, where yy is the remaining quantity after time tt, aa is the initial quantity, and bb is the half-life.
  5. Substitute Known Values: Substitute the known values into the formula.\newlineWe know that a=1024a = 1024 and b=29b = 29. We want to find the equation that models the situation after tt seconds when the remaining quantity is yy.\newliney=1024(1/2)(t/29)y = 1024(1/2)^{(t/29)}
  6. Verify Equation: Verify the equation with the given condition.\newlineWe are given that after tt seconds, there are only 3232 atoms remaining. Let's check if the equation works for this condition.\newline32=1024(1/2)t/2932 = 1024(1/2)^{t/29}\newline(1/2)t/29=32/1024(1/2)^{t/29} = 32/1024\newline(1/2)t/29=1/32(1/2)^{t/29} = 1/32\newlineSince 3232 is 252^5 and 10241024 is 2102^{10}, we can rewrite the equation as:\newline(1/2)t/29=(1/2)5(1/2)^{t/29} = (1/2)^5\newline323200\newline323211\newline323222\newlineThe equation holds true for the given condition, so there is no math error.

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