Question

If you had 1024 grams of tritium in 1895, how much would you have in 2018?

Answer 1

Answer:

0.8994 grams of tritium

Explanation:

Half life of tritium = 12.32 years

$t_{1/2}=\frac {ln\ 2}{k}$

Where, k is rate constant

So,  

$k=\frac {ln\ 2}{t_{1/2}}$

$k=\frac {ln\ 2}{12.32}\ year^{-1}$

The rate constant, k = 0.0563 year⁻¹

Time = 1895 to 2018 = 124 years

Using integrated rate law for first order kinetics as:

$[A_t]=[A_0]e^{-kt}$

Where,  

$[A_t]$ is the concentration at time t

$[A_0]$ is the initial concentration  = 1024 grams

So,  

$[A_t]=1024\times e^{-0.0563\times 125}=0.8994\ grams$

In 2018, we have 0.8994 grams of tritium.