A nerdy Scotch-drinking physicist, Nicola, suspected that the 50-year-old Scotch she purchased was misrepresented. Reasoning that water must contain the radioactive hydrogen isotope, tritium, because this isotope is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, she decided she could use the tritium concentration in the Scotch to determine when it was bottled. She found that the tritium concentration in the Scotch was only 64% that of the tritium concentration in the water on the Isle of Islay where the Scotch was bottled. How old, really, was this 50-year-old Scotch? The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years.

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The Answer of A nerdy Scotch-drinking physicist, Nicola, suspected that the 50-year-old Scotch she purchased was misrepresented. Reasoning that water must contain the radioactive hydrogen isotope, tritium, because this isotope is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, she decided she could use the tritium concentration in the Scotch to determine when it was bottled. She found that the tritium concentration in the Scotch was only 64% that of the tritium concentration in the water on the Isle of Islay where the Scotch was bottled. How old, really, was this 50-year-old Scotch? The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years.

A Nerdy Scotch-Drinking Physicist, Nicola, Suspected That the 50-Year-Old Scotch