What will be the remaining mass of cobalt – 60 after undergoing three half life cycles?
The half-life of cobalt-60 is 5.27 years. After each half-life cycle, half of the remaining mass of cobalt-60 will decay.
After the first half-life cycle, the mass will be reduced to half its original value.
After the second half-life cycle, the mass will be further reduced to half of the remaining value after the first cycle.
After the third half-life cycle, the mass will be further reduced to half of the remaining value after the second cycle.
Therefore, the remaining mass of cobalt-60 after three half-life cycles can be calculated as follows:
Remaining mass = Original mass x (1/2)^n
where n is the number of half-life cycles.
Since we are considering three half-life cycles:
Remaining mass = Original mass x (1/2)^3
= Original mass x (1/8)
= Original mass / 8
So, the remaining mass of cobalt-60 after three half-life cycles will be 1/8 or 0.125 times the original mass.