Join the Most Relevant JEE Main 2025 Test Series & get 99+ percentile! Join Now
Search any question & find its solution
Question: Answered & Verified by Expert
A radioactive material decays by simultaneous emission of two particles with half-lives 1620 yr and 810 yr respectively. The time (in yr) after which one-fourth of the material remains, is
PhysicsNuclear PhysicsNEET
Options:
  • A 4860 yr
  • B 3240 yr
  • C 2340 yr
  • D 1080 yr
Solution:
2144 Upvotes Verified Answer
The correct answer is: 1080 yr
From Rutherford-Soddy law, the number of atoms left after n half-lives is given by

         N=N012n

Where,  N0 is the original number of atoms.

The number of half-life

          n=time of decayeffective half-life

Relation between effective disintegration constant (λ) and half-life (T) is
               λ=ln2T

  λ1+λ2=ln2T1+ln2T2

Effective half -life

                 1T=1T1+1T2=11620+1810

                1T=1+21620T540 yr

           n= t540

t540=2

      t= 2 × 540 = 1080 yr

Looking for more such questions to practice?

Download the MARKS App - The ultimate prep app for IIT JEE & NEET with chapter-wise PYQs, revision notes, formula sheets, custom tests & much more.