Radioactive decay, half-life and uses

EasyMediumHard
1234567891011121314151617181920212223242526272829303132333435363738394041424344454647484950515253545556575859606162636465666768697071727374
Question 12
Easy

A student measures how the count rate of a sample of a radioactive isotope changes over time. Their results are plotted in Figure 5.

Graph showing count rate in counts per minute (cpm) on the y-axis against time in hours on the x-axis. The curve starts at 480 cpm at 0 hours, decreases rapidly to 250 cpm at 1 hour, 135 cpm at 2 hours, 78 cpm at 3 hours, 50 cpm at 4 hours, and then levels off horizontally, remaining constant at 35 cpm between 5 and 6 hours.

Give one reason why the count rate measured by the detector does not fall to zero after 6 hours.

[1]

Radioactive decay, half-life and uses Questions

  1. GCSE
  2. /Physics
  3. /Radioactive decay, half-life and uses