re:atomics / Radioactive decay
Half-life worksheet
Single hypothetical isotopes, large parent populations, constant half-lives, and no new parent atoms added. These are learning exercises, not used-fuel safety calculations.
Name ____________________________ Date _________________
Problem 01
An imaginary isotope has a half-life of 4 hours. After 12 hours, what percentage of the original parent population remains?
Problem 02
A different imaginary isotope has a half-life of 9 hours. After 18 hours, what percentage of its original parent population remains?
Problem 03 / Predict it
During each additional half-life, what happens to the parent population in this model?
- Half of the remaining parent population decays.
- The same fixed number of parent nuclei decays.
- Every nucleus has reached its guaranteed decay time.
Problem 04 / Explain it