The average time a nucleus has remained unchanged. Τ refers to the mean lifetime of an element. Λ refers to the decay constant, which is the rate of decay of an element. Half life formulaīy using the following decay formula, the number of unstable nuclei in a radioactive element left after t can be calculated: However, it is a highly accurate estimate when enough nuclei are available in a radioactive element. It doesn't mean that half of the radioactive element would have decayed after the half-life is over. Half-life is more like a probability measure. For instance, the biological half-life of metabolites. The concept if half-life can also be used to characterize some exponential decay. This shows the variation in the half-life of different elements. Uranium-233 has a half-life of about 160000 years, on the other hand. The half-life of carbon-10, for example, is only 19 seconds, so it is impossible to find this isotope in nature. Half-life is defined as the time needed to undergo its decay process for half of the unstable nuclei.Įach radioactive element has a different half life decay time. Unstable nuclei are radioactive decay and emit alpha, beta, or gamma-rays that eventually decay to stable nuclei while stable nuclei of a radioactive don’t change. There are stable and unstable nuclei in each radioactive element. Half-life is a concept widely used in chemistry, physics, biology, and pharmacology.

It can be used to calculate the half-life of a radioactive element, the time elapsed, initial quantity, and remaining quantity of an element.

The Half-Life calculator can be used to understand the radioactive decay principles.

Half life 1 beta