ConcepTest: Radioactive Decay

ConcepTest questions by David McConnell , David Steer ( This site may be offline. ) , Walter Borowski, Jeffrey Dick, Annabelle Foos, Jeffrey Knott, Alvin Konigsberg, Michelle Malone, Heidi McGrew, Kathie Owens, and Stephen Van Horn
This material was originally created for Starting Point:Introductory Geology
and is replicated here as part of the SERC Pedagogic Service.

Initial Publication Date: May 8, 2006
DOI | Cite this

Question:

If radioactive decay began with 400,000 parent atoms, how many would be left after 3 half lives?

a. 200,000
b. 100,000
c. 50,000
d. 25,000

Student Responses:

No data yet. The correct response is c.

If you would like to help acquire more Before and After statistics for this example, please contact the authors (see link at top of page).

References and Notes:

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