Definition:Radioactive Decay/Half-Life

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Definition

The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for exactly half of an arbitrary quantity of that isotope to undergo radioactive decay.

Thus it is the time it takes for exactly half of an arbitrary quantity of that isotope to remain.


Examples

This page lists isotopes of some radioactive elements and their half-lives.

Rubidium-$87$    $48.8 \times 10^9$ years      
Uranium-$238$    $4.5 \times 10^9$ years      
Potassium-$40$    $1.251 \times 10^9$ years      
Carbon-$14$    $5 \,730 \pm 40$ years      


Sources