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
Your calculations are right. Two quarter lives are not equal to a half life.
A quarter life is the time it takes to lose one quarter. But after the first quarter is gone, the next quarter life is the time it takes to lose one quarter of what’s left, which is smaller than the first quarter you lost.
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