The half-life of a radioactive substance is a characteristic constant. It refers to the time it takes for a given amount of matter to be reduced by half as a result of degradation and hence radiation emission.
Archaeologists and geologists use half-life to determine the age of organic objects in a process known as carbon dating. During beta decay, carbon 14 becomes nitrogen 14. At the moment of death, organisms stop producing carbon 14. Because the half-life is constant, the ratio of carbon 14 to nitrogen 14 provides a measure of the age of a sample.
In medicine, the radioactive isotope cobalt 60 has been used for radiotherapy to shrink tumors that will then be surgically removed, or to destroy cancer cells in inoperable tumors. When it decays to stable nickel, it emits two relatively high-energy gamma rays. Today it is being replaced by electron beam radiation therapy systems. The half-lives of isotopes from some sample elements are as follows: oxygen 16: infinite, uranium 238: about 4,5 million years, carbon 14: 5.730 years, cobalt 60: 5.27 years, and silver 94: 42 seconds.
To measure the half-life of a substance is to determine the amount of radiation that this substance will emit. The half-life is a constant for each different substance, allowing experts to accurately predict the life of a material. For radioactive materials, this refers to how long it will take for a material to no longer pose a threat. For other materials, such as carbon 14, the half-life helps radiometric dating (carbon dating) to determine the approximate age of ancient remains.
The atomic nucleus constantly seeks stability and can achieve this through the process of radioactive decay.
Half-life means how long it takes for anything of any quantity to decompose in half. This applies to radioactive things, not things like compost and paper that break down into their components and turn into soil. Radioactive elements are divided into simpler ones due to their instability.
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