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Half-Life
Alpha and Beta Decay
HALF-LIFE
The amount of time required for one-half
(50%) of the radioactive atoms to decay
Every radioactive element has a specific
half-life associated with it
Is a spontaneous process
HALF-LIFE
HALF-LIFE
Can range from fractions of a second to
billions of years.
Measures stability of nucleus
No operation or process of any kind (i.e.,
chemical or physical) has ever been
shown to change the rate at which a
radionuclide decays.
24
Warm-up 10/18
Calculate the half lives for the following questions:
Problem #1:The half-life of Zn-71 is 2.4 minutes.
If one had 100.0 g at the beginning, how many
grams would be left after 7.2 minutes has
elapsed?
Problem #2:Os-182 has a half-life of 21.5 hours.
How many grams of a 10.0 gram sample would
have decayed after exactly three half-lives?
Vocabulary review
Isotope: versions of an atom that have the
same protons, but different neutrons
Ion: atom where electrons do not equal
protons, giving the atom a charge (+/-)
Proton: found in the nucleus of an atom;
positively charged
Neutron: found in the nucleus of an atom;
neutral charge
Electron: found in the energy shell around
the nucleus; negative charge
Nuclear Symbols
What does each number represent?
Atomic Mass
Atomic Number
Alpha Decay
Alpha decay
Occurs often in large, heavy elements like uranium
and thorium
Example: Radon-222 undergoes nuclear decay when
it releases an alpha particle. The remaining isotope
as a mass of 218 (222-4) and an atomic number of
84 (86-2), which identifies the element as Polonium
(Po)
Resources
http://www2.lbl.gov/abc/wallchart/chapters/0
3/2.html (Beta Minus and Beta Plus decay)
http://www.ansto.gov.au/cs/groups/corporate/
documents/document/mdaw/mduw/~edisp/ac
s101171.pdf (includes all decay plus fission
and fusion)