High School

U-235 has a half-life of 700 million years. If you start with 55 kg of U-235, how much is left after 300 million years?

Answer :

Final answer:

After 300 million years, which is slightly less than half of the half-life of U-235 (700 million years), slightly more than half of the original 55kg of U-235 would remain. The exact amount can be calculated using exponential decay equations. The 'lost' mass during decay isn't entirely lost, but gets converted into energy or other decay products.

Explanation:

The remaining amount of U-235 radioisotope after a certain period of time given its half-life. U-235 isotope with an original mass of 55kg undergoes decay for 300 million years with a half-life of 700 million years. To calculate the amount that remains, you have to understand the concept of half-life, which is the amount of time it takes for half of the isotope in a sample to decay.

However, your given time, 300 million years, is less than one half-life (700 million years). After one half-life, half of the original amount would remain. Since 300 million years is slightly less than half of the half-life of 700 million years, it means you will have slightly more than half of your original amount remaining. The exact calculation involves exponential equations and the decay constant, which might be complicated at this level.

Additionally, while the U-235 isotope decays to other elements, the mass is not lost completely but is rather often converted into energy or other decay products.

Learn more about U-235 Decay here:

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