Measuring the half life of Protactinium

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The half life does not change with timebecause the amount of radio active decay always increases at the same rate. For example it you start with a Protactinium sample with 200 A/Bq, it would take 6 seconds for this amount to half, as you can see in the red lines. If you take another point like 50, the amount of time required to half it is also 6 seconds as shown with the gree n lines. As we can see the time taken for an amount to half is always the same which means that the halflife is constant, and for protactinium the half life is 6 seconds.

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Time T (s)

6 Seconds

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10

6 Seconds
5

0 0 50 100 150 Activity (counts per second) A / Bq 200 250 300

Investigating the half-life of Protactinium

Time / t (s) 0-10 12.5-22.5 25-35 37.5-47.5 50-60 62.5-72.5 75-85 87.5-97.5 100-110 112.5-122.5 125-135 137.5-147.5 150-160 162.5-172.5 Average time for interval 5 17.5 30 42.5 55 67.5 80 92.5 105 117.5 130 142.5 155 167.5 180 192.5 205 217.5 230 242.5 255 267.5

To get the 10 seconds minus the background count I subtracted 6 counts from the amount of coutns in 10 seconds. Example: Ex. 292-6 = 286

To get the activity I divided the amount of counts minus the background count by 10. Example: Counts per 10 seconds minus Graph is on page named graph Half life= from 200 to 100 A/Bq the Protactinium took 6 seconds so the half life is 6 seconds. Example: 200 A/Bq = 4 seconds, 100 A/Bq = 10, 10 - 4 = 6, so te half life of protactinium is 6 seconds

What to do: 1. Process your data by completing the table above. 2. Write example calculations in the space below for all the calculations you have to used in 1 above.

3. Use Excel to plot a graph of Activity (Y axis) against time (X axis) for Protactinium. Add a best fit logarithm the equation on your graph. 4. Use the graph to find the half-life of Protactinium.

5. "The half-life of the radioactive sample does not change with time". Use your graph to provide evidence t 6. Submit your work via Turnitin. 7. Present your completed work on your blog in a siutable format.

Background count rate 6 counts in 10 seconds Counts in 10 seconds 292 253 219 183 184 154 144 109 112 98 107 70 69 48 54 43 53 44 46 27 22 22 Counts per 10 seconds minus background count 286 247 213 177 178 148 138 103 106 92 101 64 63 42 48 37 47 38 40 21 16 16

mount of coutns in 10 seconds. Example: Counts per 10 seconds- 6 = Counts per 10 seconds minus the background counts.

0. Example: Counts per 10 seconds minus background count / 10 = Activity Ex. 286/10= 28,6

um is 6 seconds

ns you have to used in 1 above.

Protactinium. Add a best fit logarithmic line to your data and show

Use your graph to provide evidence to support this statement.

Activity (counts per second) A / Bq 28.6 24.7 21.3 17.7 17.8 14.8 13.8 10.3 10.6 9.2 10.1 6.4 6.3 4.2 4.8 3.7 4.7 3.8 4 2.1 1.6 1.6

ds minus the background counts.