A vessel contains 4 10²³ tritium atoms. Given that the half-life for the decay of tritium nuclei is 12.3 y , determine the activity of the sample.

Step-by-step solution

The activity of a radioactive sample is given by the formula: A = N where is the decay constant and N is the number of atoms. The decay constant is related to the half-life T_ 1/2 by: = 2 T_ 1/2 0.693 T_ 1/2 Given: T_ 1/2 = 12.3 y = 12.3 365 24 3600 s = 3.879 10^8 s N = 4 10²³ Substituting these values into the activity formula: A = 0.693 3.879 10^8 4 10²³ A 1.786 10⁻⁹ 4 10²³ A 7.146 10¹⁴ disintegrations s ⁻¹