What term describes the time required for a radioactive substance to decay to half its activity?

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Multiple Choice

What term describes the time required for a radioactive substance to decay to half its activity?

Explanation:
Half-life describes the time required for a radioactive substance to decay to half its activity. This is a fixed interval for each isotope, and after one half-life the activity drops by 50%, after two half-lives it drops to 25%, and so on. This leads to exponential decay of activity over time, often written as A(t) = A0 (1/2)^{t/T1/2} or A(t) = A0 e^{-λt}, where T1/2 is the half-life and λ is the decay constant. Knowing the half-life lets you predict remaining activity and estimate how long a source stays hazardous. The other terms describe different concepts: radiation is the energy emitted during decay; isotopes are variants of an element; ionization is the process of removing electrons.

Half-life describes the time required for a radioactive substance to decay to half its activity. This is a fixed interval for each isotope, and after one half-life the activity drops by 50%, after two half-lives it drops to 25%, and so on. This leads to exponential decay of activity over time, often written as A(t) = A0 (1/2)^{t/T1/2} or A(t) = A0 e^{-λt}, where T1/2 is the half-life and λ is the decay constant. Knowing the half-life lets you predict remaining activity and estimate how long a source stays hazardous. The other terms describe different concepts: radiation is the energy emitted during decay; isotopes are variants of an element; ionization is the process of removing electrons.

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