Question

What is the half-life of a radioisotope?

Answer 1

The half-life of a radioisotope is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms of the isotope to decay. This can vary greatly depending on the isotope, with some having half-lives as short as fractions of a second, while others can have half-lives of millions of years.

Answer 2

The half-life of a radioisotope is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of the isotope to decay. It is a characteristic property of the isotope and is specific to each radioisotope. 

Radioactive decay is a random process, meaning that it is impossible to predict when any one atom in a sample will decay. However, the half-life is a statistically significant parameter that allows us to predict the behavior of a large sample of atoms over time.

For example, if the half-life of a radioisotope is 10 years, then after 10 years, half of the original sample will have decayed, and only half will remain. After another 10 years (a total of 20 years), half of the remaining sample will have decayed, leaving only one-quarter of the original sample, and so on.

The half-life of a radioisotope can be used to determine the age of a material through a process called radiometric dating. This involves measuring the ratio of the parent isotope (the radioactive isotope that is decaying) to the daughter isotope (the isotope produced by the decay) in a sample and comparing it to the known half-life of the parent isotope. By measuring the amount of decay that has occurred, scientists can calculate the age of the material.

Answer 3

The half-life of a radioisotope is the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of the isotope to decay, typically measured in units of time such as seconds, years, or millennia.

Answer 4

The half-life of a radioisotope is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of the isotope to decay. It is a characteristic property of the isotope and is specific to each radioisotope.