Half Life In Nuclear Chemistry
A student of nuclear chemistry is well aware that radioactive elements do not have a stable nucleus. By reducing their particles they change their nuclei and gain stability. This process is termed as radioactive decay. |
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Radioactive elements are known to have a half-life. Half-life is defined as the time taken by one half of the radioactive sample to decay. One cannot be sure how long will it take for the decay to occur. However, what can be estimated is the number of nucleus of the radioactive elements that will decay in a given sample. For example, if there are 20 nucleus in a sample, 10 will be left after the end of half-life. Another half-life will see the number come down to 5. This will continue till the time complete decay of the radioactive elements has occurred. All radioactive elements disintegrate depending on their half-life. Mathematical equations and calculation can determine the amount of radioactive element that will be left after a certain time and how much was there originally.
A very common application of this is to find out the ages of archeological artifacts. This is done using isotopic dating that determines the activity of the isotopes. Each particular isotope has a half-life of its own. The half-life of U238 is 4.5 billion years. This means that it will take 4.5 billion years for half of U238 to decay into another element or elements. In the next 4.5 billion years the rest of the half of U238 would have disintegrated. According to calculations, after 9 billion years, only one fourth of the original amount will be available on the earth. Nuclear half-lives of radioactive elements range from micro-seconds to billion and billions of years.
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Nuclear explosions have long been cited as the most serious threat to mankind. However, this has not deterred the nations worldwide to carry out testing nuclear weapons in the name of humanity. 
