Nuclear Physics And Radioactivity Question 511

Question: The half life of $ ^{131}I $ is 8 days. Given a sample of $ ^{131}I $ at time t = 0, we can assert that

Options:

A) No nucleus will decay before t = 4 days

B) No nucleus will decay before t = 8 days

C) All nuclei will decay before t = 16 days

D) A given nucleus may decay at any time after t = 0

Show Answer

Answer:

Correct Answer: D

Solution:

[d] Number of nuclei decreases exponentially $ N=N_{0}{{e}^{-\lambda t}} $ and Rate of decay $ ( -\frac{dN}{dt} )=\lambda N $ Therefore, decay process losts up to t = ¥. Therefore, a given nucleus may decay at any time after t = 0.