The half life of a radioactive nucleus is 50 days. The time interval $\left(t_2-t_1\right)$ between the time…
The half life of a radioactive nucleus is 50 days. The time interval $\left(t_2-t_1\right)$ between the time $t_2$ when $\frac{2}{3}$ of it has decayed and the time $t_1$ when $\frac{1}{3}$ of it had decayed is
30 days
50 days
60 days
15 days
Solution
Active fraction at instant $t_2$,
$\frac{1}{2^{t_2 / T_{1 / 2}}}=\frac{1}{3}$
Active fraction at instant $t_1$,
$\begin{aligned}
\frac{1}{2^{t_1 / T_{1 / 2}}} & =\frac{2}{3} \\
\frac{2^{t_2 / T_{1 / 2}}}{2^{t_1 / T_{1 / 2}}} & =2 \\
t_2-t_1=T_{1 / 2} & =50 \text { days }
\end{aligned}$