microscope.png

Microscope

Theme E - Nuclear & Quantum Physics

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Rocket

Theme A - Space, Time & Motion

thermometer.png

Thermometer

Theme B - The Particulate Nature Of Matter

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Water Wave

Theme C - Wave Behaviour 

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Magnifying Glass Tilted Right

Theme D - Fields

<ul>
	<li>It&#39;s like a &quot;magic trick&quot; where atomic nuclei vanish spontaneously.</li>
	<li>It&#39;s random, like trying to guess the next card in a deck. But if you have a big enough deck, you can make some good guesses.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Think of a sample of Carbon-14 as a big jar with 6 x 1023 jelly beans. That&#39;s A LOT of jelly beans!</li>
	<li>Even a tiny speck (1&micro;g) has about 4 x 1016 jelly beans, er... atoms.</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Every atom in our radioactive &quot;jar&quot; has a shot at decaying, like every jelly bean having a chance to change color.</li>
	<li>How many change in one second is called the activity. The more you have, the more that changes!</li>
</ul>

<ul>
	<li>Activity is measured in becquerels (Bq).</li>
	<li>1 Bq = 1 atom decaying per second.</li>
</ul>

Quick Example 
You&#39;ve got a jar of 4 x 1012 jelly beans. Each bean has a 1% chance to change color every second. So, in one second, 4 x 1010 jelly beans will change color! Less jelly beans? Fewer changes.

Imagine a cookie that keeps splitting in half every hour. How long until just a crumb remains?

<ul>
	<li>It&#39;s like seeing how long it takes for half your jelly beans to change color.</li>
	<li>Fun fact: Half-lives vary. Uranium-238 takes 4.5 billion years, while fluorine-29 changes in a blink (2.5ms)!</li>
</ul>

Ever noticed patterns repeating? Like waves on a beach or echoes in a valley? That&#39;s exponential change!

<ul>
	<li>It&#39;s not just for radioactivity. It&#39;s seen in charging batteries, swinging pendulums, and even in how seashells grow!</li>
</ul>

<ol>
	<li>
	Example 8: A graph shows activity changing over time.

	<ul>
		<li>a. If activity halves in 2 minutes (120s), that&#39;s the half-life!</li>
		<li>b. After 10 minutes (5 half-lives), the activity reduces to 2.5 x 105 Bq.</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
	<li>
	Example 9: Nuclide X turns into Y in 7 days.

	<ul>
		<li>a. In 14 days (2 half-lives), 240g becomes 60g.</li>
		<li>b. If Y&#39;s mass is 225g, X&#39;s is 15g. This happens after 28 days or 4 half-lives.</li>
	</ul>
	</li>
</ol>

And there you have it! Radioactive half-life in a nutshell - but with jelly beans, cookies, and beach waves. Keep exploring and remember, physics is everywhere! 🌍🌌🍪🔭📚.

Theme E - Nuclear & Quantum Physics

Understanding Radioactive Half-Life: From Basics To Applications

Table of content

What is Radioactivity?

Big Numbers, Big Predictions!

What's with the Decay?

Becquerel - The Radioactive Stopwatch

Unlock the Full Content!

Theme E - Nuclear & Quantum Physics

Understanding Radioactive Half-Life: From Basics To Applications

Table of content

What is Radioactivity?

Big Numbers, Big Predictions!

What's with the Decay?

Becquerel - The Radioactive Stopwatch

Unlock the Full Content!