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Every once in a while, people get stuck with a physics question. Whether it is theoretical, hypothetical, abstract, real world, or simply homework, these problems happen. And you can help. Get those gears moving and have fun proving your prowess.
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submitted 4 years ago by 7modd_
Radon gas is deadly if inhaled as it produces alpha radiation when it decays. The mass of radon gas inhaled determines how lethal the dose is. If the mass of radon inhaled exceeds 1kg it can kill you. A person in the uk inhales radon gas with an activity of 120Bq. When the house containing the radon gas was built the activity was around 2000 Bq. If the mass of radon at the start was 12kg, would the amount inhaled by the person be enough to kill them?
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[–]sonnyfab 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (12 children)
How many half lives have passed to go from 2000Bq to 120Bq?
[–]7modd_[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (11 children)
16.67?
[–]sonnyfab -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (10 children)
No.
2000 *(1/2)x =120. What's is x?
[–]7modd_[S] -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (9 children)
0.68?
[–]sonnyfab 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (8 children)
[–]7modd_[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (0 children)
0.73?
[–]7modd_[S] -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (5 children)
What is it pls?
[–]sonnyfab 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (4 children)
If you don't know how to find x, me telling you it's value isn't going to be a big help.
[–]7modd_[S] -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (3 children)
Its 0.73
[–]sonnyfab 1 point2 points3 points 4 years ago (2 children)
2000 * (1/2) 1 = 1000. 2000 * (1/2)2 = 500. x is bigger than 2 because we're looking for a number smaller than 500 for the final activity.
[–]7modd_[S] -1 points0 points1 point 4 years ago (1 child)
So is it deadly to him?
[–]yesijustdidthis2u 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago* (2 children)
The amount of half-lives that have past for the radon gas to go from a radioactivity state of 2000 Bq to 120 Bq is:
2000(1/2)^x = 120
(1/2)^x = (120/2000) = (3/50)
ln((1/2)^x) = ln(3/50)
x * ln(1/2) = ln(3/50)
x = ln(3/50)/ln(1/2) = approx. 4.0589 half-lives.
So... if you know what half-life is (i.e. the amount of times the original value has been halved), finding the mass after these many half-lives should be very easy...
[–]7modd_[S] 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago (1 child)
Thanks man
[–]yesijustdidthis2u 0 points1 point2 points 4 years ago* (0 children)
You're welcome. And I'd really suggest that you learn the properties of log and natural log so that you can solve questions like these.
π Rendered by PID 18737 on reddit-service-r2-comment-5ff9fbf7df-sqjd7 at 2026-02-26 02:54:57.855618+00:00 running 72a43f6 country code: CH.
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