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Radioactive Decay. Radioactive materials decay from the “Parent” material into the “Daughter Product”. . Daughter Product. Original “Parent” Material. You’ll never know which atoms will decay. (16 atoms). … or when . But one thing we do know. ...is that it always takes the same
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Radioactive materials decay from the “Parent” material into the “Daughter Product”. Daughter Product Original “Parent” Material
You’ll never know which atoms will decay... (16 atoms)
...is that it always takes the same amount of time for half to disappear. (8 atoms)
Don’t worry about the last atom. You start with so many trillions that you never really get there. (It will just decay and then they’re all gone.)
Since you don’t know how many atoms you started with, a ratio between parent to daughter will tell you how many half-lives have gone by. 100% parent 0% daughter 0 half lives
One half-life. 50% parent 50% daughter 1 half-life
Two half-lives. 25% parent 75% daughter 2 half-lives
Three half-lives. 12.5% parent 87.5% daughter 3 half-lives
Four half-lives. 6.25% parent 93.75% daughter 4 half-lives