A radioactive material, with half-life of six months, has 100 thousand unstable nuclei. (a) Find the number of unstable nuclei present after three months.
(b) What will be its activity at this time (after three months)?

See Explanation

Explanation:

Given that;

N/No = (1/2)^t/t1/2

Where;

No = amount of radioactive isotope originally present

N = A mount of radioactive isotope present at time t

t = time taken

t1/2 = half life

N/1000=(1/2)^3/6

N/1000=(1/2)^0.5

N = (1/2)^0.5 * 1000

N= 707 unstable nuclei

Since the value of the initial activity of the radioactive material was not given, the activity of the radioactive material after three months is given by;

Decay constant = 0.693/t1/2 = 0.693/6 months = 0.1155 month^-1

Hence;

A=Aoe^-kt

Where;

A = Activity after a time t

Ao = initial activity

k = decay constant

t = time taken

A = Aoe^-3 *0.1155

A=Aoe^-0.3465

since the atomic number is the number of protons in the nucleus, as we move to the left on the periodic table, the electrostatic pull between the nucleus and the valence electron shell decreases. as we move down a group (vertical column), the valence shell energy level gets further and further from the nucleus.