Agusan del Sur State College of Agriculture and

Technology
San Teodoro, Bunawan, Agusan del Sur
College of Teacher Education

WRITTEN REPORT
in
HALF-LIFE
(Chapter 2)
S118 – Modern Physics

Submitted by: Jeremy Nest A. Manulat

BSEd – Science 3B

Submitted to: Dr. Vivian C. Peligro

Instructor
Topic: Half-life

Objectives:
At the end of the lesson, the students will be able to;
a) Define the Half-life
b) Determine the different formula in getting the half-life
c) Solve sample problem using half-life formula

Introduction
According to Max Malak(2022)
 Refers to the amount of time it takes for half of a particular sample to react.
Furthermore, it refers to the time that a particular quantity requires to reduce
its initial value to half

https://youtu.be/GTzvORcnwYE?si=xB5ozrLgtR3ffULQ
Ernest Rutherford
 Coined this famous term in 1907 while he used the half-life formula to
determine the age of the rocks by measuring the decaying period of radium
to lead.

N(t) = N0[e-λ*t]

Where:

 N0 = the initial amount or quantity of the radioactive substance that will

decay. The unit of measurement of this quantity can be in moles, grams,
number of atoms, etc.

 N(t) = the amount of the remaining substance, and its decay has still not
taken place after the time t

 λ = the rate of decay constant of the decaying quantity; it is always a positive

number.

Deriving the Exponential Decay Formula

 Starting with this formula, N(t) = N0[e-λ*t], we can set t as T1/2 to represent
the half-life.

 And so, N(t) will become N(T1/2), and as it’s halved, N0 shall be halved too,
resulting in N(T1/2)= ½ N0.

Now, we can start the derivation:

1. Since N(T1/2)= ½ N0, the original equation or formula can now become
N(T1/2)= ½ N0 = N0[eλ* T1/2].

2. Dividing through by N0 and taking the logarithm, ½ = eλ*t results in another

equation of ln(½) = -λ*(T1/2).

3. Simplify this equation. We can get, T1/2 = -(1/λ)*ln(½).

4. Following and abiding by the laws of logarithms, we can take the (-1) value
up as an exponent of the logarithm. With that, the final equation will be
T1/2 = (ln(2))/(λ).
 This is the half-life formula. It shows that the amount of time it will take for half of
a substance to decay is equal to the ln of 2 divided by the decay constant of the
decaying quantity.

However, there is another variation for the half-life formula.

Using the half-life values, the amount of remaining substance after a specific
amount of time can be specified.

This is shown by the equation: N(t) = N0 x (½)n.

For different kinds of problem concerned and related to the half-life formula and
half-life of substances, these three formulas can be used:

 T1/2 = ln(2)/λ - the original formula for getting the half-life of a substance
 N(t) = N0[eλ*t] - can be used to calculate the age of a specific material
 N(t) = N0 x (½)n - can be used to determine the amount of the substance
that’s left after a given time .

Example 1. Calculating the half-life of a certain radioactive substance with a decay

constant of 0.003 per year would give us____.

Solving:

t1/2 = ln(2)/λ

t1/2 = 0.693/0.003 per year

t1/2 = 231 years

Answer: This means that the half-life of this certain substance is 231 years, which
also means that it will take 231 years for half of this substance to decay.
Example 2. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.28 × 109 years. If an initial sample
has an initial value of 5.00 grams of potassium-40, how much of the substance will
remain after 2.56 B years?

Solving:

n = 2.56 B years divided by 1.28 x 109 years = 2

N(t) = N0 x (½)n

N(t) = 5.00 grams x (½)2

N(t) = 1.25 grams

Answer: This shows that after 2.56 billion years, from 5.00 grams of potassium-40,
1.25 grams will still remain.

Importance of Half-Life
1. It enables us to discover the age of the artifacts
2. It allows us to calculate the safety period for the storage of radioactive waste until
3. Also, it allows doctors to use radioactive tracers safely
4. It also allows determining the age of any rock by its exponential decay

Half-Life of Some Substances

Since the half-life formula has been used to determine the half-lives of many
isotopes, here is some example of elements with their corresponding half-lives:

Silver-94 - 0.42 seconds

Neutron - 10.2 min
Iodine-131 - 8 days
Carbon-14 - 5,730 years
Plutonium-239 - 24,100 years
ACTIVITIES:

Activity 1: Half-life Analyzation

Direction: In a one whole sheet of paper solve and make a graph about the given
problem.

The Half-life of a radioactive source is 40 hours. There are initially 3,000,000

radioactive nuclei in the sample. How many nuclei will remain after 5 days?

Activity 2: Water’s half-life

Direction: Determine the halflife of a 1L of water and get its remaining sample.

Procedure:
1. In your group prepare a 1 liter of water and a kettle
2. Put the 1 liter of water and place it into the fire until 30 minutes.
3. Take a documentation of it
4. Calculates its haf-life
5. Determine the remaining substance.

Activity 3: Analyze

Direction: Analyze and give your conclusion and ideas in the given graph of
Plutonium 239 Halflife
Quiz

Direction: Choose the letter of the correct answer.

1. Is the amount of time required for any given substance to reach to the half of its
initial value.
a) Half substance
b) Half life
c.) One Half
d.) Radioactivity

2. A random event that we cannot predict to happened.

a) Radioactivity
b) Half life
c) Decay
d) Activation

3. What is the Half-life process?

a) The time it takes for half an atom to decay
b) Process of emitting energy in the form of waves or particles
c) There is no half-life process
d) Time that it takes for half the atoms of a radioactive substance to decay

3. In this bacteria are adjusting to their new conditions.

a) Log Phase
b) Lag Phase
c) Stationary Phase
d) Decline Phase

4. What is the half-life of carbon-14?

a) 5,730 years
b) 5,730 days
c) 5,731 years
d) 5,732 hours
5. What is the half-life of neutron?
a) 10.1 min
b) 10.2 min
c) 10.3 min
d) 10.4 min

6. What is the half-life of silver -94?

a) 0.42 seconds
b) 0.40 seconds
c) 0.50 seconds
d) 0.41 seconds

7. What is the half-life of iodine-131?

a) 7 years
b) 6 days
c) 7 days
d) 8 days

8. What is the formula in getting the half-life of the substance?

a) N(t) = N0 x (½)n
b) /N(t) = N0[e-λ*t]
c) T1/2 = ln(2)/λ
d) N(1/2) = N0[eλ*t]

9. Who coined the word half-life?

a) Hernest Rutherford
b) John Dalton
c) J.J Thompson
d) Ernest Rutherford

10. The following are the importance of half-life, EXCEPT?

a) It enables us to discover the age animals
b) It allows us to calculate the safety period for the storage of radioactive waste until
c) Also, it allows doctors to use radioactive tracers safely
d) It also allows determining the age of any rock by its exponential decay

11. You have 75.0 g of lead-212. If it has a half-life of 10.6h. How long it will take
until only 9.30 g remains.
a) 65.6 h
b) 31.9 h
c) 29.4 h
d) 32.7 h

12. Marie Curie had a 765g sample of polonium-210 (half-life = 138d) in a box.
After 3.8 years of refining radium, she goes to the box to get her polonium. How
much polonium-210 is in the box?
a) 0.72g of polonium-210
b) 0.74g of polonium-210
c) 1.72g of polonium-210
d) 1.74g of polonium-210

13. Calculating the half-life of a certain radioactive substance with a decay constant
of 0.003 per year would give us____.
a) 321 years
b) 233 years
c) 231 years
d) 230 years

14. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.28 × 109 years. If an initial sample has an
initial value of 5.00 grams of potassium-40, how much of the substance will remain
after 2.56 B years?
a) 1.52 g
b) 1.23 g
c) 1.26 g
d) 1.25 g

15. Find the age of the Shroud of Turin if the amount of carbon-14 found in the
material is 90% of that in living tissue.
a) 700 years
b) 800 years
c) 771 years
d) 871 years

16. Calculate the half-life of a radioactive substance whose disintegration constant

happens to be 0.004 1/years?
a) 173.25 years.
b) 173 years
c) 157.3 years
d) 177.35 years

17. The decay constant of a substance is 0.84 s-1. Find the half-life of the
substance.
a) 0.9 seconds
b) 0.8 seconds
c) 1.8 seconds
d) 0.7 seconds

18. If there are 60 grams of NpNp-240 present, how much NpNp-240 will remain
after 4 hours? (NpNp-240 has a half-life of 1 hour)
a) 3.75 g
b) 4.25 g
c) 3.25 g
d) 4.75 g

19. How much of a 100.0 gram sample will remain after three half-lives?
a) 50 g
b) 25 g
c) 12.5 g
d) 6.25 g

20. 30.0 grams of a radioactive substance is left after 4 half-lives. What was the
mass of the original sample?
a) 120 g
b) 480 g
c) 240 g
d) 60 g

Reference:
Max Malak (October 2022 ). Everything You Need to Know About Half-Life
Formula Source: https://studybay.com/blog/half-life-formula/.

https://www.toppr.com/guides/physics/fundamentals/what-is-half-life-and-how-to-
calculate-it/