How does the 7:10 rule of thumb actually work?
In: Mathematics
The intensity of radiation decreases logaritmically after a nuclear detioation (first it halves, then the remaining half halves, and so on). The 7:10 rule of thumb is the easiest way to approximate this type of calculation, and the numbers were chosen to match real world data.
The rule of thumb is saying that when 7 times as much time has elapsed, the radiation has gone down 10 times. So if it is 10x the deadly dose after 1 hour, it’s 1x the deadly dose after 7 hours, and 0.1x after 14 hours. Deadly doses are more complicated than this, but this is the basic idea.
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