
College Physics
11th Edition
ISBN: 9781305952300
Author: Raymond A. Serway, Chris Vuille
Publisher: Cengage Learning
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Transcribed Image Text:**Understanding Half-life: A Case Study on Cesium-137**
Consider the isotope cesium (Cs)-137, which has a half-life of 30 years. The question here is: How long will it take for this isotope to decay to about one-half its original amount?
In simplest terms, the half-life of an isotope is the amount of time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms present in a sample to decay into a different state or element. Therefore, for cesium-137, it will take approximately 30 years to decay to half of its initial quantity.
Understanding half-life is crucial in fields such as radiometric dating, nuclear medicine, and environmental science, where predicting the behavior of radioactive substances is necessary for safety and effective planning.
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