The half-life of americium-241 is 457 years.What is the activity in curies of a 0.010 g sample of Am-241? (1 Ci = 3.700 × 10¹⁰ atom/s)

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Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The activity (A) of a radioactive sample is given by the formula A = (λN)/3.7x10^10, where λ is the decay constant and N is the number of atoms. The decay constant λ can be calculated from the half-life (T_1/2) using the formula λ = ln(2)/T_1/2. Given the half-life of americium-241 is 457 years, and the mass of the sample is 0.010 g, we can calculate the number of atoms (N) using Avogadro's number and the molar mass of Am-241. After calculating N and λ, we find the activity and convert it to curies (Ci), leading to the correct answer of approximately 0.032 Ci.

The Half-Life of Americium-241 Is 457 Years