Answer to Question #68313 in General Chemistry for Jennifer

Question

Element 104 was produced at Oak Ridge National Laboratory. Only 3000 atoms were created with a half-life of 4.5 seconds. How many atoms were left after 9.0 seconds?

Answer 1

The half life is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay.
Therefore, in 4.5 seconds 3000/2 = 1500 atoms will remain.
In 9 seconds 1500/2 = 750 atoms will remain.