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# Half Life

## Half Life Definition

As per the half life definition, The total time required by any substance or quantity to get abridged to half of its initial concentration is called half life.

## What is Half Life?

Half life is explained as the time required for the decay rate of any substance that might be having an unstable structure by a constant factor 2. Hence, if the initial concentration of a particular sample is known as A then, the decay in this amount after half life will be A/2.

## Half Life Formula

Half life is based around the decay process and the number of unstable nuclei remaining after time "t". So the value of "t" can be found or determined using half life equation

$$\text{N(t)} = \text{N(0)}\;*\;0.5\frac{t}{n}$$

Where:

• N(t) is the remaining quantity of a substance after time "t" has elapsed
• N(0) is the initial quantity of this substance
• T is the half life

You can also determine the remaining quantity of a substance using some other parameters in the given formula like:

$$N(t) = N(0)\;*\;e^{(\frac{-t}{τ})}$$

$$N(t) = N(0)\;*\;e^{(-λt)}$$

Where:

• "τ" is the mean lifetime - the average amount of time a nucleus remains intact
• "λ" is the decay constant (rate of decay)

Every one of the three parameters portraying a substance's radioactivity is connected in an accompanying manner:

$$T=\frac{ln(2)}{λ} = ln (2)*τ$$

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## How to find Half Life?

The time period is associated with half-life, let's say 7 days means that if you have a considerable number of radioactive atoms with that half-life, then after 7 days, half of them have released their excess energy and decayed into something else.

So if we have 10,000 atoms of Exampelonium-111 with a half-life of 7 days we would only have 5,000 atoms of it. Then 7 days later, we would only have 2,500 atoms, etc. A half life calculator helps you to find the exact time at which a radioactive element need to decay to its half.

You can also learn how to calculate grams to moles? using grams to moles formula.

Radioactivity is a phenomenon that occurs in nature as well as in labs where it is done artificially. In this process, the nucleus of atoms disintegrates by emitting waves of energy called radiation.

The atoms of heavier elements do not have an ideal proton to neutron ratio. This makes them unstable. In order to approach the stable ratio, the atoms go through radioactive decay and in the process emit energy or various particles as by-products.

The most common types of materials showing radioactive decay are Uranium, Strontium, Plutonium and Radium. The reason for the instability in these and other radioactive materials is that they have extra neutrons in their atoms. This creates imbalance.

Learn what is the significance of Moles? in radioactivity and how to calculate it using mole fraction formula.

## Types of Radioactive Half Life Decay

Radioactive half life decay is of three types

• Alpha Decay
• Beta Decay
• Gamma Decay

How to Calculate Half Life?

## What is Half Life Calculator?

The half life calculator is a tool that helps you to understand and calculate the basics of radioactive decay. This calculator is based on half life formula of radioactive elements.

One can use this tool to calculate the starting and the least amount of a half life decay constant. Half life equation and half life formula is described about radioactive elements to utilize this half life calculator in the best possible way.

## How to use Half Life Calculator?

Half life calculator uses half life formula to solve half life equation & half life problems. You'll need to follow below steps to calculate the half life of any radioactive element using online half life calculator.

• Enter the initial or beginning amount of a substance in the first field.
• Enter the final amount of an element in the second field.
• Enter the elapsed time (how long it took for that amount to the material to decay) in the third field.
• Now click on the "CALCULATE" Button.

After putting all the values in the half life calculator, it will compute a result for you without any delaying. You can confirm the results by manually solving half life equation using half life formula.

We hope we halped you in understanding half life. We have other calculators for you to learn yield & its types. You can also learn how to calculate percent yield & how to calculate theoretical yield using calculators.