Mercury-197 is used for kidney scans and has a half-life of 3 days. If the 32 grams of mercury-197 is ordered, but takes 15 days to arrive, how much would arrive in the shipment?
To calculate how much Mercury-197 would arrive in the shipment after 15 days, we need to consider the decay of the substance over time.
Since Mercury-197 has a half-life of 3 days, we can calculate the decay factor using the formula:
Decay factor = (1/2)^(t/h),
where t is the time elapsed and h is the half-life of the substance. In this case, t = 15 days and h = 3 days.
Decay factor = (1/2)^(15/3) = (1/2)^5 = 1/32.
This means that after 15 days, only 1/32 of the initial amount of Mercury-197 will remain. Therefore, the amount of Mercury-197 that would arrive in the shipment after 15 days is:
32 grams x 1/32 = 1 gram.
Therefore, only 1 gram of Mercury-197 would arrive in the shipment after 15 days.