Law of Radioactivity by Rutherford and Soddy and Half Life and Mean Life Questions in English

The half-life of a radioactive substance is $20 \text{ minutes}$. In $........ \text{ minutes}$ time,the activity of the substance drops to $\left(\frac{1}{16}\right)^{th}$ of its initial value.

$A$ radioactive sample $S_1$ having an activity $5 \mu Ci$ has twice the number of nuclei as another sample $S_2$ which has an activity of $10 \mu Ci$. The half-lives of $S_1$ and $S_2$ can be

An accident in a nuclear laboratory resulted in the deposition of a certain amount of radioactive material with a half-life of $18$ days inside the laboratory. Tests revealed that the radiation level was $64$ times higher than the permissible level required for safe operation. What is the minimum number of days after which the laboratory can be considered safe for use?

In a radioactive decay process,the activity is defined as $A = -\frac{dN}{dt}$,where $N(t)$ is the number of radioactive nuclei at time $t$. Two radioactive sources,$S_1$ and $S_2$,have the same activity at time $t = 0$. At a later time,the activities of $S_1$ and $S_2$ are $A_1$ and $A_2$,respectively. When $S_1$ and $S_2$ have just completed their $3^{\text{rd}}$ and $7^{\text{th}}$ half-lives,respectively,the ratio $A_1/A_2$ is:

${ }^{131} I$ is an isotope of Iodine that $\beta$ decays to an isotope of Xenon with a half-life of $8$ days. $A$ small amount of a serum labelled with ${ }^{131} I$ is injected into the blood of a person. The activity of the amount of ${ }^{131} I$ injected was $2.4 \times 10^5 \text{ Bq}$. It is known that the injected serum will get distributed uniformly in the blood stream in less than half an hour. After $11.5$ hours,$2.5 \text{ ml}$ of blood is drawn from the person's body,and gives an activity of $115 \text{ Bq}$. The total volume of blood in the person's body,in liters,is approximately (you may use $e^{x} \approx 1+x$ for $|x| \ll 1$ and $\ln 2 \approx 0.7$):

The activity of a freshly prepared radioactive sample is $10^{10}$ disintegrations per second,whose mean life is $10^9 \ s$. The mass of an atom of this radioisotope is $10^{-25} \ kg$. The mass (in $mg$) of the radioactive sample is

If the measurement errors in all the independent quantities are known,then it is possible to determine the error in any dependent quantity. This is done by the use of series expansion and truncating the expansion at the first power of the error. For example,consider the relation $z = x / y$. If the errors in $x, y$ and $z$ are $\Delta x, \Delta y$ and $\Delta z$,respectively,then $z \pm \Delta z = \frac{x \pm \Delta x}{y \pm \Delta y} = \frac{x}{y}(1 \pm \frac{\Delta x}{x})(1 \pm \frac{\Delta y}{y})^{-1}$. The series expansion for $(1 \pm \frac{\Delta y}{y})^{-1}$,to first power in $\Delta y / y$,is $1 \mp(\Delta y / y)$. The relative errors in independent variables are always added. So the error in $z$ will be $\Delta z = z(\frac{\Delta x}{x} + \frac{\Delta y}{y})$. The above derivation makes the assumption that $\Delta x / x \ll 1, \Delta y / y \ll 1$. Therefore,the higher powers of these quantities are neglected.
$(1)$ Consider the ratio $r = \frac{(1-a)}{(1+a)}$ to be determined by measuring a dimensionless quantity $a$. If the error in the measurement of $a$ is $\Delta a$ $(\Delta a / a \ll 1)$,then what is the error $\Delta r$?
$(2)$ In an experiment,the initial number of radioactive nuclei is $3000$. It is found that $1000 \pm 40$ nuclei decayed in the first $1.0 \ s$. For $|x| \ll 1$,$\ln(1+x) \approx x$ up to the first power in $x$. The error $\Delta \lambda$,in the determination of the decay constant $\lambda$,in $s^{-1}$,is:

If the measurement errors in all the independent quantities are known,then it is possible to determine the error in any dependent quantity. This is done by the use of series expansion and truncating the expansion at the first power of the error. For example,consider the relation $z = x / y$. If the errors in $x, y$ and $z$ are $\Delta x, \Delta y$ and $\Delta z$,respectively,then $z \pm \Delta z = \frac{x \pm \Delta x}{y \pm \Delta y} = \frac{x}{y} (1 \pm \frac{\Delta x}{x}) (1 \pm \frac{\Delta y}{y})^{-1}$. The series expansion for $(1 \pm \frac{\Delta y}{y})^{-1}$,to first power in $\Delta y / y$,is $1 \mp (\Delta y / y)$. The relative errors in independent variables are always added. So the error in $z$ will be $\Delta z = z (\frac{\Delta x}{x} + \frac{\Delta y}{y})$. The above derivation makes the assumption that $\Delta x / x \ll 1, \Delta y / y \ll 1$. Therefore,the higher powers of these quantities are neglected.
$(1)$ Consider the ratio $r = \frac{(1 - a)}{(1 + a)}$ to be determined by measuring a dimensionless quantity $a$. If the error in the measurement of $a$ is $\Delta a$ $(\Delta a / a \ll 1)$,then what is the error $\Delta r$?
$(2)$ In an experiment,the initial number of radioactive nuclei is $3000$. It is found that $1000 \pm 40$ nuclei decayed in the first $1.0 \ s$. For $|x| < 1$,$\ln(1 + x) = x$ up to first power in $x$. The error $\Delta \lambda$,in the determination of the decay constant $\lambda$,in $s^{-1}$,is:

${ }_{92}^{238} U$ is known to undergo radioactive decay to form ${ }_{82}^{206} Pb$ by emitting alpha and beta particles. $A$ rock initially contained $68 \times 10^{-6} \text{ g}$ of ${ }_{92}^{238} U$. If the number of alpha particles that it would emit during its radioactive decay of ${ }_{92}^{238} U$ to ${ }_{82}^{206} Pb$ in three half-lives is $Z \times 10^{18}$,then what is the value of $Z$?

$A$ heavy nucleus $Q$ of half-life $20 \text{ minutes}$ undergoes alpha-decay with a probability of $60 \%$ and beta-decay with a probability of $40 \%$. Initially,the number of $Q$ nuclei is $1000$. The number of alpha-decays of $Q$ in the first one hour is:

$A$ freshly prepared sample of a radioisotope of half-life $1386 \ s$ has activity $10^3$ disintegrations per second. Given that $\ln 2 = 0.693$,the fraction of the initial number of nuclei (expressed in nearest integer percentage) that will decay in the first $80 \ s$ after preparation of the sample is:

$A$ nuclear power plant supplying electrical power to a village uses a radioactive material of half-life $T$ years as the fuel. The amount of fuel at the beginning is such that the total power requirement of the village is $12.5 \%$ of the electrical power available from the plant at that time. If the plant is able to meet the total power needs of the village for a maximum period of $n T$ years,then the value of $n$ is

For a radioactive material,its activity $A$ and rate of change of its activity $R$ are defined as $A = -\frac{dN}{dt}$ and $R = -\frac{dA}{dt}$,where $N(t)$ is the number of nuclei at time $t$. Two radioactive sources $P$ (mean life $\tau$) and $Q$ (mean life $2\tau$) have the same activity at $t = 0$. Their rates of change of activities at $t = 2\tau$ are $R_P$ and $R_Q$,respectively. If $\frac{R_P}{R_Q} = \frac{n}{e}$,then the value of $n$ is

$A$ sample initially contains only $U-238$ isotope of uranium. With time,some of the $U-238$ radioactively decays into $Pb-206$ while the rest of it remains undisintegrated. When the age of the sample is $P \times 10^8$ years,the ratio of the mass of $Pb-206$ to that of $U-238$ in the sample is found to be $7$. The value of $P$ is. . . . . . [Given: Half-life of $U-238$ is $4.5 \times 10^9$ years; $\log_e 2 = 0.693$]

$A$ radioactive nucleus $n_2$ has $3$ times the decay constant as compared to the decay constant of another radioactive nucleus $n_1$. If initial number of both nuclei are the same,what is the ratio of number of nuclei of $n_2$ to the number of nuclei of $n_1$,after one half-life of $n_1$?

In a radioactive material,the activity at time $t_{1}$ is $R_{1}$ and at a later time $t_{2}$,it is $R_{2}$. If the decay constant of the material is $\lambda$,then:

Two radioactive materials $A$ and $B$ having decay constants $7 \lambda$ and $\lambda$ respectively,initially have the same number of nuclei. The time taken for the ratio of the number of nuclei of material $B$ to that of $A$ to be $e$ is:

The activity of a radioactive sample is measured as $N_0$ counts per minute at time $t=0$,and $\frac{N_0}{e}$ counts per minute at time $t=3$ minutes. The activity reduces to half its value in time (in minutes) is:

$A$ radioactive element has a rate of disintegration of $9000$ disintegrations per minute at a particular instant. After $2$ minutes, it becomes $3000$ disintegrations per minute. The decay constant per minute is:

$A$ radioactive element has a rate of disintegration of $8000$ disintegrations per minute at a particular instant. After $4$ minutes,it becomes $2000$ disintegrations per minute. The decay constant per minute is: (in $log _e 2$)

Two radioactive materials $M_1$ and $M_2$ have decay constants $9 \lambda$ and $\lambda$ respectively. Initially,they have the same number of nuclei. The ratio of the number of nuclei of $M_1$ to that of $M_2$ will be $\frac{1}{e}$ after a time interval of:

$A$ radioactive element having a half-life of $30 \ min$ is undergoing beta decay. The fraction of the radioactive element that remains undecayed after $90 \ min$ will be:

Half-lives of two radioactive elements $A$ and $B$ are $30 \text{ minute}$ and $60 \text{ minute}$ respectively. Initially,the samples have an equal number of nuclei. After $120 \text{ minute}$,the ratio of the number of decayed nuclei of $B$ to that of $A$ will be:

If '$T$' is the half-life of a radioactive substance,then its instantaneous rate of change of activity is proportional to

$A$ radioactive substance has a half-life of $60 \text{ minutes}$. During $3 \text{ hours}$,the amount of substance decayed would be: (in $\%$)

Two radioactive substances $A$ and $B$ have decay constants $5 \lambda$ and $\lambda$ respectively. At $t=0$,they have the same number of nuclei. The ratio of the number of nuclei of $A$ to those of $B$ will be $(1/e)^2$ after a time interval of:

In a radioactive disintegration,the ratio of the initial number of atoms to the number of atoms present at time $t = \frac{1}{2 \lambda}$ is $[\lambda = \text{decay constant}]$

Two different radioactive elements with half-lives $T_1$ and $T_2$ have undecayed atoms $N_1$ and $N_2$ respectively present at a given instant. The ratio of their activities at that instant is

$A$ radioactive sample has a half-life of $5$ years. The percentage of the fraction decayed in $10$ years will be (in $\%$)

The half-life of a radioactive element is $1600$ years. The fraction of the sample that remains undecayed after $6400$ years will be:

For a substance,the fraction of its initial quantity $(N_0)$ which will disintegrate in its average lifetime is about $(e = 2.71)$.

The half-life of a radioactive substance is $25 \ min$. The time interval between $50 \%$ decay and $87.5 \%$ decay of the substance will be: (in $min$)

The activity of a radioactive sample decreases to $\left(\frac{1}{3}\right)$ of its original value in $3 \ days$. Then,in $9 \ days$,its activity reduces to:

$A$ sample of a radioactive element contains $8 \times 10^{16}$ active nuclei. The half-life of the element is $15 \text{ days}$. The number of nuclei decayed after $60 \text{ days}$ is:

Two radioactive materials $X_1$ and $X_2$ have decay constants $5 \lambda$ and $\lambda$ respectively. Initially,they have the same number of nuclei. After time $t$,the ratio of the number of nuclei of $X_1$ to that of $X_2$ is $\frac{1}{e}$. Then $t$ is equal to:

The half-life of a radioactive substance is $30 \text{ minutes}$. The time taken between $40 \%$ decay and $85 \%$ decay of the same radioactive substance is

The variation of decay rate with the number of active nuclei is correctly shown in which graph?

If $T$ is the half-life of a radioactive substance,then its instantaneous rate of change of activity is proportional to

$A$ radioactive element has a rate of disintegration $10,000$ disintegrations per minute at a particular instant. After four minutes it becomes $2500$ disintegrations per minute. The decay constant per minute is (in $log _e 2$)

The relation between half-life $(T)$ and decay constant $(\lambda)$ is

The half-life of a radioactive substance is $ 20 \text{ minutes} $. The time taken between $ 50\% $ decay and $ 87.5\% $ decay of the substance will be

The natural logarithm of the activity $R$ of a radioactive sample varies with time $t$ as shown. At $t=0$,there are $N_0$ undecayed nuclei. Then,$N_0$ is equal to [Take $e^2=7.5$].

$A$ radioactive sample has a half-life of $3$ years. The time required for the activity of the sample to reduce to $\frac{1}{5}$th of its initial value is about (in $years$)

$A$ radioactive element has a half-life of $15$ years. What is the fraction that will decay in $30$ years?

Which one of the following nuclei has a shorter mean life?

The half-life of tritium is $ 12.5 $ years. What mass of tritium of initial mass $ 64 \ mg $ will remain undecayed after $ 50 $ years (in $mg$)?

$A$ radioactive sample of half-life $ 10 $ days contains $ 1000x $ nuclei. The number of original nuclei present after $ 5 $ days is: (in $x$)

$A$ radioactive substance emits $100$ beta particles in the first $2 \,s$ and $50$ beta particles in the next $2 \,s$. The mean life of the sample is

$A$ and $B$ are two radioactive elements. The mixture of these elements shows a total activity of $1200 \text{ disintegrations/minute}$. The half-life of $A$ is $1 \text{ day}$ and that of $B$ is $2 \text{ days}$. What will be the total activity after $4 \text{ days}$? Given,the initial number of atoms in $A$ and $B$ are equal.