Physics Form 5: Chapter 5 - Half Life of Radioisotopes

• Half life is the time taken for radioisotope to decay to half of its original quantity. 
• Different radioisotope have different value of half life.

The half life formula is an exponential equation:

where N_t is the remaining substance after time t, N₀  is the initial amount of the substance, t_1/2  is the half life of the substance, and t is the elapsed time.

Click on the diagram below to play!

 

Radioisotope will continue to decay to form new atom until it becomes stable