A radioactive sample $S_1$ having an activity of $5 \mu \mathrm{Ci}$ has twice the number of nuclei as…

A radioactive sample $S_1$ having an activity of $5 \mu \mathrm{Ci}$ has twice the number of nuclei as another sample $S_2$ which has an activity of $10 \mu \mathrm{Ci}$. The half lives of $S_1$ and $S_2$ can be
  1. 20 yr and 5 yr, respectively
  2. 20 yr and 10 yr, respectively
  3. 10 yr each
  4. 5 yr each

Solution

Activity of $S_1=\frac{1}{2}$ (activity of $S_2$ ) or $ \lambda_2 N_1=\frac{1}{2}\left(\lambda_2 N_2\right) \text { or } \frac{\lambda_1}{\lambda_2}=\frac{N_2}{2 N_1} $ or $ \begin{aligned} & \frac{T_1}{T_2}=\frac{2 N_1}{N_2}\left(T=\text { half-life }=\frac{\ln 2}{\lambda}\right) \\ & N_1=2 N_2 \\ & \frac{T_1}{T_2}=4 \end{aligned} $ Given $\therefore$ correct option is (a)

Asked in: JEE Advanced 2008 (Paper 2)

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