1.
Calculate the decay constant(λ), Average life(tav), and half-life(t1/2)of a radionuclide where activity diminished
by 10% in 100 days.
(Ans:1.05×10-3 day-1,952.38days,660days)
2.A radioactive isotope has a half-life(t1/2) of 30days. What percent of a sample of the isotope disintegrated after
65 days? (Ans:77.72%)
3. Is it possible to determine the average life(tav) of a radioactive nucleus from the plot of log(N t) against time(t)?
If possible, determine the average life(tav).
4.Two radionuclides A and B have half-life ‘t’ and ‘3t’, respectively. If we start an experiment with one mole of
each, what will be the mole ratio after a time interval ‘6t’.(Ans:1:16)
5. The Curie was originally considered to be the activity of 1 gm of Ra 226 (t1/2=1620 years). Calculate the actual
weight of Ra226, which is equivalent to 1 Curie. (Ans:1.023gm)
6.Half-life(t1/2) of Rn222 is 382 days. Calculate the weight of 1 Curie of Rn 222. (Ans:6.495×10-4 gm)
7.The half-life period of a radio element is 300days. How long will it take for a 9/10 fraction of a sample of this
element to decay? (Ans:996.96 days)
8.The half-life period of Co60 is 5.3 years. Find the activity of a millicurie of the sample after six months.
(Ans:0.9367millicurie)
9.The half-life period of Po is 140 days. If one starts with one gram of Po, in what time 75% of it will undergo
disintegration? (Ans:280.10 days)
10.2.00 g of 82Bi210 decays at such a rate that 0.500 g of it is left after ten days. Calculate(a) the radioactive
disintegration constant(λ), (b) the amount left after five days, and (c) the half-life of the isotope. (Ans:0.138day-
1
,1.00gm,5days)
11.The half-life of radium is 1590 years. How long will it take for 1 g of the element to lose 0.1 g? (Ans:241.77
years)
12.The activity of a radioactive element falls from 3100 dpm to 980 dpm over a period of 40 days. What are the
disintegration constant(λ) and half-life(t1/2) of the element? (*dpm=Disintegration per minute). (Ans:2.88×10-2
day-1,24days)
13.A sample of radioactive sodium (t1/2=14.8 hrs) is injected into the body of an animal. How many hours will be
required for the activity to come to one-tenth of its original intensity, assuming that none is excreted? (Ans:49.18
hrs)
14.The half-life period of a radioactive sample is 4.8 min. If 1 mg of the sample is kept in a store, how much of
the sample would remain unchanged after 10 min and four half-lives? (Ans:0.236mg,0.0625mg)
15. The half-life of a radioactive isotope is 1.0 minute. In an experiment, the number of decay events was
monitored in 1- minute intervals over a 5-minute period. Suppose 50 decay events were observed in the first
minute. In the second minute, __________ events were observed, and in the 5th minute, __________ events were
observed. (Ans:25,3)
16. Uranium-238 decays to form thorium-234 with a half-life of 4.5 × 109 years. How many years will it take for
75% of the uranium-238 to decay? (Ans:9.00×109Years)
17. Tritium, (3H) is used in glowing “EXIT” signs located where there is no electricity for light bulbs. If the half-
life of tritium is 12.26 years, what percentage of the original quantity of the isotope is left in the sign after 18.5
years? (Ans:35.1%)
18. Iodine-131 has a half-life of 8.1 days and is used as a tracer for the thyroid gland. If a patient drinks a sodium
iodide (NaI) solution containing iodine-131 on a Tuesday, how many days will it take for the concentration of
iodine-131 to drop to 5.0% of its initial concentration? (Ans:35.02days)
19. Phosphorus-32 is a radioactive isotope used as a tracer in the liver. How much phosphorus-32 was
originally used if there is only 3.50 mg left in a sample after 288 h? (The half-life of phosphorus-32 is
14.3 days.) (Ans:6.26mg)
20.Carbon-14 measurements on the linen wrappings from the Book of Isaiah on the Dead Sea Scrolls
indicated that the scrolls contained about 79.5% of the carbon-14 found in living tissue. Approximately
how old are these scrolls? The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. (Ans:1897.2years)
21.The half-life of 18F is 109.7 minutes. If radiolabeled Prozac were administered to a patient for a PET
scan at 8:00 A.M. on 30.05.2021, at what time would its activity reach 10% of the original activity?
(Ans:At 02.07pm on 30.05.2021).
22.A 10.00 g sample of wood from an archaeological site produced 3072 β particles in a 10-hour
measurement owing to the presence of carbon-14, while a 10.00 g sample of new wood produced 9216
β particles in the same period of time. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. How old is the wood
from the archaeological site? (Ans:9085years)
