For 1000k atoms I will have a 500k after 1 half life, and 250k after 2 half lives. But when I try to do the same with fractions something doesn’t add up. Because after “quarter life” i will have 750k atoms, but then I’ll have 562500 atoms, because of 750k multiplied by 0.75. So quarter life should be equal to 0.5 of half life, but half life doesn’t work that way. I am confused.
In: Physics
Follows fractions of atoms remaining after 1-3 half lives passed
– 1HL: 1/2
– 2HL: 1/2*1/2 =1/4
– 3HL: 1/4*1/2=1/8
Follows fractions of atoms remaining after 1-3 quarter lives passed
– 1QL: 3/4
– 2QL: 3/4*3/4 = 9/16
– 3QL: 9/16*3/4= 27/64
Just like HL does not mean you remove a half of the original after each HL (because then you would loose all atoms after two HL) QL wouldn’t mean you loose a quarter of the original, after each QL, instead in both cases you loose a defined fraction of **the remainder**
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