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In-class_exercise_5_-_Radioactive_Decay_and_Half-Life

The document outlines an in-class simulation for Applied Physics PHYS20009 focused on radioactive decay, using candies as a model for radioactive nuclei. Students are instructed to conduct a series of tosses to observe the decay process and record data on the number of remaining and decayed nuclei. The document also includes questions and calculations related to half-lives and the importance of pooling class data for accuracy.

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3 views

In-class_exercise_5_-_Radioactive_Decay_and_Half-Life

The document outlines an in-class simulation for Applied Physics PHYS20009 focused on radioactive decay, using candies as a model for radioactive nuclei. Students are instructed to conduct a series of tosses to observe the decay process and record data on the number of remaining and decayed nuclei. The document also includes questions and calculations related to half-lives and the importance of pooling class data for accuracy.

Uploaded by

janibibibe
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Student Name: Alexandra Anden, Avinash Rajeev Nair, [Week 12]

Emma Jackson, Joshua Penny, Nga Lam Ho, Tisha


Pinakin Patel

Applied Physics PHYS20009 – In‐class Simulation #4: Radioactive Decay


The half‐life is the amount of time it takes for half of the radioactive nuclei in a sample to decay.
The formula used determine the rate of radioactive decay using the half‐life is:
n
𝑁 = 𝑁o (1)
2
Where N is the amount of remaining radioactive nuclei after n half‐lives, and No is the original starting
number of radioactive nuclei.
In this simulation, you will use small pieces of candy marked on one side. They will be your “nuclei.” You
also need a clean sheet of paper on which to place your “nuclei.”

Procedure:
1. Count 60 “radioactive nuclei” (i.e., 60 candies: M&Ms that look like smarties or Skittles but seems
to work best with M&Ms). Write that number in the data table below under the heading “# of
Actual Radioactive Nuclei” for toss number 0. In the column marked “Prediction for Next Toss”
write the number of radioactive nuclei you think you will have with your next toss (Toss 1, i.e.,
after one‐half life).
2. (Radioactive nuclei will be those candies with the marked side down).
3. Place your “nuclei” in a bag, shake the bag, and then pour the “nuclei” onto a white/blank sheet of
paper. Separate the “nuclei” into two piles, one with the marked side up (“decayed nuclei”) and
the other with the marked side down (“radioactive nuclei”). Count the number of “nuclei” in each
pile. On your data table, record the number of “radioactive nuclei” candies with the marked side
down. Predict how many radioactive “nuclei” you will have after the next toss.
4. Return only the “radioactive nuclei” to your bag. (You decide what to do with the “decayed nuclei”
or those with the marked side up).
5. Continue this process until you have completed 5 tosses.

Toss # of Actual Prediction for Next Toss Class Average # of Class Average # of
# Radioactive Nuclei Actual Radioactive Predicted Radioactive
Nuclei Nuclei
0 56.7 48.3

1 31.67 26 56.9 37.3

2 20 17.3 33.2 21.6

3 12.67 9.3 21.4 12.8

4 8.3 6 12.1 7.9

5 4.3 2.3 5.9 2.6


Questions:
1. Using your data, prepare a graph by plotting the number of radioactive “nuclei” on the
y‐axis and the number of tosses, which we will call half‐lives, on the x‐axis. Connect
your points to create a line graph curve without using a ruler. Do one plot for your
actual data and a second plot (on the same graph) for your predicted data. Use an
appropriate legend! Do a second (separate) graph using the pooled class average data
(for both actual and predicted number of radioactive nuclei) from the above table. [5]
2. Now on your graph, find the point on the line that is exactly half of the original number
of radioactive nuclei, and follow that down to the corresponding toss number. Note
that this number will most likely not be a whole number. This is your half‐life in tosses.
Record that number here: half‐life = 1.9 tosses. How does this number compare with
that from the graph of the pooled class average data? [2]

56.67/2 = 28.35
y=−9.7 x+ 46.533
28.35=−9.7 x +46.533
28.35−46.533=−9.7 x
−18,183 −9.7 x
=
−9.7 −9.7
x=1.9
Our group’s number is almost half of the pooled class average.

3. How good is our assumption that half of our radioactive “nuclei” decay in each
half‐ life? Explain. [2]
It is very useful as half-life is the time it takes for half the nuclei in a sample of a radioisotope
to decay that means the time interval during which each nucleus has a 50% probability of
decaying. However, with such a small sample size, there is a lot of room for random errors.

4. If you started with a sample of 600 radioactive nuclei, how many would remain
un‐ decayed after three half‐lives? [2]

Number of undecayed nuclei:


600
For the 1st half-life = =300
2
300
For the 2nd half-life = =150
2
150
For the 3rd half-life = =75
2
Therefore, the number of undecayed nuclei for the 3 half-lives is 75.

5. If you started with a sample of 5000 radioactive nuclei, how many would remain
un‐ decayed after 10 tosses? [2]

N = 5000(½)^5, N = 156.25 un-decayed.

6. Strontium‐90 has a half‐life of 28.8 years. If you start with a 10‐gram sample
of strontium‐90, how much will be left after 115.2 years? [2]

Remaining quantity = 10(½)^(115.2/28.8), remaining quantity = 0.625g of


strontium-90.
7. Why is it important to pool the class data? How does this relate to radioactive nuclei? [2]

8. If 175 un‐decayed nuclei remained from a sample of 2800 nuclei, how many half ‐
lives have passed? (Hint: to find an unknown exponent, use the natural log, ln). [3]

x
175=2800∗0.5
log 175=log ( 2800∗0.5 x )log 175=log 2800+ x log 0.5
log 175−log 2800
x=
log 0.5
x=4

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