Question

studying for my final, help

12) (2 pts) the isotope, tritium, has a half-life of 12.3 years and atomic mass 3.016 amu. Assume we have 10 kg of the substance. What will be the disintegration constant (in s )? a. 5.6 x 10-2 5-1 b. 5.6 x 108 s-1 c. 3.2 x 10's-1 d. 1.8 x 10-9 s-1 e. 1.6 x 106 s-1

Answer 1

Given data:

​​​​​​Half life of tritium =12.3 years = 12.3 x 365 x 24 x 60 x 60 sec.

As 1 year has 365 days , each day has 24 hours, each hour has 60 minutes, each minute has 60 seconds.

We know that disintegration constant is given by:

In (2) X = t1/2

Where $t_{1/2}$ is half life of the substance

Substituting values we get:

= In(2) 12.3* 365 * 24 * 60 * 60 1.8 x 10-9 8-1

Therefore option d) is the required answer.