Question #97b1f

2 Answers
Apr 9, 2017

=13.879 g

[to the nearest hundredth of a gram]

Explanation:

You'll need the Pu-239 half life which Google tells me is: 24,100 years

For exponential decay A(t)=Aoekt we can say this about the half life, τ:

A(τ)=Ao2=Aoekτk=ln2τ

A(t)=Aoeln2τt

A(t=75,000)=120eln224,10075,000

=13.879 g

Reality check, that is almost 3 half lives so we should get in the order of: 120(12)3=15 g

Apr 9, 2017

The mass is =13.891g

Explanation:

The half life of Plutonum 239 is t12=2.4104years

The radioactive decay constant is λ=ln2t12

So,

λ=ln22.4104=0.692.4104

=0.2875104(years1)

We apply the equation

A=A0eλt

The activity is proportional to the mass.

m=m0eλt

m=120e(0.287510475000)

m=120e2.15625

m=1200.11576

m=13.891g