Question

Two different radioactive isotopes decay to 10% of their respective original amounts. Isotope A does this in 33 days, while isotope B does this in 43 days. What is the approximate difference in the half-lives of the isotopes?

Answer 1

Answer:

A. 3 Days

Step-by-step explanation:

Just took the test hope this helps :)

Answer 2

Answer:

The approximate difference in the half-lives of the isotopes is 66 days.

Step-by-step explanation:

The decay of an isotope is represented by the following differential equation:

$\frac{dm}{dt} = -\frac{t}{\tau}$

Where:

$m$ - Current mass of the isotope, measured in kilograms.

$t$ - Time, measured in days.

$\tau$ - Time constant, measured in days.

The solution of the differential equation is:

$m(t) = m_{o}\cdot e^{-\frac{t}{\tau} }$

Where $m_{o}$ is the initial mass of the isotope, measure in kilograms.

Now, the time constant is cleared:

$\ln \frac{m(t)}{m_{o}} = -\frac{t}{\tau}$

$\tau = -\frac{t}{\ln \frac{m(t)}{m_{o}} }$

The half-life of a isotope ($t_{1/2}$) as a function of time constant is:

$t_{1/2} = \tau \cdot \ln2$

$t_{1/2} = -\left(\frac{t}{\ln\frac{m(t)}{m_{o}} }\right) \cdot \ln 2$

The half-life difference between isotope B and isotope A is:

$\Delta t_{1/2} = \left| -\left(\frac{t_{A}}{\ln \frac{m_{A}(t)}{m_{o,A}} } \right)\cdot \ln 2+\left(\frac{t_{B}}{\ln \frac{m_{B}(t)}{m_{o,B}} } \right)\cdot \ln 2\right|$

If $\frac{m_{A}(t)}{m_{o,A}} = \frac{m_{B}(t)}{m_{o,B}} = 0.9$, $t_{A} = 33\,days$ and $t_{B} = 43\,days$, the difference in the half-lives of the isotopes is:

$\Delta t_{1/2} = \left|-\left(\frac{33\,days}{\ln 0.90} \right)\cdot \ln 2 + \left(\frac{43\,days}{\ln 0.90} \right)\cdot \ln 2\right|$

$\Delta t_{1/2} \approx 65.788\,days$

The approximate difference in the half-lives of the isotopes is 66 days.