What do people mean when they say “half life of element X”?
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In science, the “half life” of an element is the amount of time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of the element to break down or decay. This happens because some elements are not stable and eventually turn into other elements.
It’s kind of like a timer that is always running, but it goes very, very slowly. For example, the half life of a certain element might be 1,000 years. That means it would take 1,000 years for half of the atoms in a sample of that element to decay into something else. After another 1,000 years, half of the remaining atoms would decay. And so on.
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