Half-Life Calculator

Click on Calculate Volume or Calculate Temperature you wish to calculate.


T1/2 = Half Life
T = Elapsed Time
AmtB = Beginning Amount
AmtE = Ending Amount


or or or

Enter value and click on calculate. Result will be displayed.

:
:
:
:

What is a Half-Life Calculator?
A Half-Life Calculator is a tool that helps you determine the remaining quantity of a substance (usually a radioactive isotope) after a certain period of time, based on its half-life. The half-life is the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample of a radioactive material to decay.

The general equation used in a half-life calculation is:



Where:

N₀ = Initial quantity of the substance
Nₜ = Remaining quantity of the substance after time t
T₁/₂ = Half-life of the substance
t = Time elapsed
Why it's important:
The concept of half-life is fundamental in fields like nuclear physics, chemistry, archaeology (for carbon dating), and medicine. It helps understand how long it takes for a substance to decay or change over time. In radioactive dating, for example, knowing the half-life of a substance allows scientists to estimate the age of ancient materials.

How it works:
Radioactive decay: In radioactive materials, atoms decay into other elements or isotopes over time. The rate of decay is constant, and after each half-life, half of the remaining substance will have decayed.
Predicting decay: The half-life formula is used to predict how much of the substance remains after a specific amount of time, based on the known half-life.
For example, if a substance has a half-life of 10 years:

After 10 years, 50% of the original substance remains.
After 20 years, 25% remains.
After 30 years, 12.5% remains, and so on.
When it's used:
A Half-Life Calculator is typically used when:

You're working with radioactive decay, such as calculating how much of a radioactive isotope remains after a certain period.
You need to estimate the age of a sample, such as fossil dating with carbon-14 or determining the age of rocks.
Medical applications like nuclear medicine (e.g., for calculating the decay of radiopharmaceuticals in the body).
Half-Life Calculator:
A Half-Life Calculator takes the following inputs:

Initial quantity of the substance (N₀)
Half-life of the substance (T₁/₂)
Elapsed time (t)
It will give you the remaining quantity (Nₜ) of the substance after the specified time.

For example:

If you start with 100g of a substance that has a half-life of 5 years, and you want to know how much remains after 15 years, the calculator would help determine that 12.5g remains after three half-lives.
In short, the calculator simplifies and speeds up these decay calculations, which can be crucial in various scientific and practical applications.