Radioactive half life.

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What does ‘half life’ actually mean? If the radiation level is always half, then would an atom always be radioactive? Could a plutonium atom decay into another non-radiactive element?

Edit: spelling

In: Physics

4 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

It is probabilistic. So if an atom has a half life of 1 second, this does not mean that in 1 second that atom will now be a half atom. Instead, it means that on average, that atom will decay within its 1s half life 50% of the time.

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