Physics Athens 2016

Radioactive Decay

It is only possible to determine the probability of decay in a certain time. In a sample of N nuclei the number of decays per unit time is:

dt dN

l   

N

A =-dN/dt

l eN=N(t) t -

0

2ln



T

2/1

l

Half Life: The time it takes for half the amount of a radioactive material to decay Effective half life (Te) = TpTb/(Tp+Tb) Tp= radioactive decay Tb= biological transport or elimination from the specific site