지수적 증가와 감소

True; $k=\frac{\ln \,(2)}{t}$

No. The relic is approximately $871$ years old.

$73$ years

$12$

$8.618\%$

$239,179$ years

In the beginning of this section, the text says “A differential equation is an equation for an unknown function that involves the derivative of the unknown function." Our unknown function is $y$, so a differential equation is an equation that relates $y$ and $\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}y}{\mathrm{d}x}$. This applies to (a) and (b), but not (c), (d), or (e).

Note that $\displaystyle \frac{\mathrm{d}x}{\mathrm{d}x}=1$: this is the derivative of $x$ with respect to $x$.

What we're asked to find is when

$$\begin{aligned} Q(t)&=0 \\ \text{That is,} \\ Ce^{-kt}&=0 \end{aligned}$$

If $C=0$, then this is the case for all $t$. There was no isotope to begin with, and there will continue not being any undecayed isotope forever.

If $C>0$, then since $e^{-kt}>0$, also $Q(t)>0$: so $Q(t)$ is never 0 for any value of $t$. (But as $t$ gets bigger and bigger, $Q(t)$ gets closer and closer to 0.)

Remark: The last result is somewhat disturbing: surely at some point the last atom has decayed. The differential equation we use is a model that assumes $Q$ runs continuously. This is a good approximation only when there is a very large number of atoms. In practice, that is almost always the case.

The two pieces of information give us

$$\begin{aligned} f(0) &= A = 5 & f(7) &= A e^{7k}=\pi \end{aligned}$$

Thus we know that $A=5$ and so $\pi = f(7) = 5e^{7k}$. Hence

$$\begin{aligned} e^{7k} &= \frac{\pi}{5} \\ 7k &= \log(\pi/5) \\ k &= \frac{1}{7} \cdot \log(\pi/5). \end{aligned}$$

where we use $\log$ to mean natural logarithm, $\log_e$.

The amount of Carbon-14 in the sample $t$ years after the animal died will be $$Q(t)=5e^{-kt}$$ for some constant $k$ (where 5 is the amount of Carbon-14 in the sample at time $t=0$). So, the answer we're looking for is $Q(10000)$. We need to replace $k$ with an actual number to evaluate $Q(10000)$, and the key to doing this is the half-life. The text tells us that the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years, so we know:

$$\begin{aligned} Q(5730)&=\frac{5}{2}\\ 5e^{-k\cdot5730}&=\frac{5}{2}\\ \left(e^{-k}\right)^{5730}&=\frac{1}{2}\\ e^{-k}&=\sqrt[5730]{\frac{1}{2}}=2^{-\tfrac{1}{5730}} \\ \text{So:} \\ Q(t)&=5\left(e^{-k}\right)^t\\ &=5\cdot2^{-\tfrac{t}{5730}} \\ \text{Now, we can evaluate:} \\ Q(10000)&=5\cdot 2^{-\tfrac{10000}{5730}}\approx 1.5~\mu g \end{aligned}$$

Remark: after $2(5730)=11,460$ years, the sample will have been sitting for two half-lives, so its remaining Carbon-14 will be a quarter of its original amount, or $1.25$ $\mu$g. It makes sense that at 10,000 years, the sample will contain slightly more Carbon-14 than at 11,460 years. Indeed, 1.5 is slightly larger than 1.25, so our answer seems plausible.

It's a good habit to look for ways to quickly check whether your answer seems plausible, since a small algebra error can easily turn into a big error in your solution.

Let 100 years ago be the time $t=0$. Then if $Q(t)$ is the amount of Radium-226 in the sample, $Q(0)=1$, and

$$\begin{aligned} Q(t)&=e^{-kt} \\ \text{for some positive constant $k$. When $t=100$, the amount of Radium-226 left is 0.9576 grams, so} \\ 0.9576=Q(100)&=e^{-k\cdot 100}=\left(e^{-k}\right)^{100}\\ e^{-k}&=0.9576^{\tfrac{1}{100}}\\ \text{This tells us} \\ Q(t)&=0.9576^{\tfrac{t}{100}} \\ \text{So, if half the original amount of Radium-226 is left,} \\ \frac{1}{2}&=0.9576^{\tfrac{t}{100}}\\ \log\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)&=\log\left(0.9576^{\tfrac{t}{100}}\right)\\ -\log 2&=\frac{t}{100}\log(0.9576)\\ t&=-100\frac{\log 2}{\log 0.9576}\approx 1600 \end{aligned}$$

So, the half life of Radium-226 is about 1600 years.

We know that the amount of Polonium-210 in a sample after $t$ days is given by

$$\begin{aligned} Q(t)&=Ce^{-kt} \\ \text{where $C$ is the original amount of the sample, and $k$ is some positive constant.} \\ \\ \text{The question asks us what percentage of the sample decays in a day. Since $t$ is measured in days, the amount that decays in a day is $Q(t)-Q(t+1)$. The percentage of $Q(t)$ that this represents is $100\dfrac{Q(t)-Q(t+1)}{Q(t)}$. (For example, if there were two grams at time $t$, and one gram at time $t+1$, then $100\dfrac{2-1}{1}=50$: 50\% of the sample decayed in a day.)} \\ \\ \text{In order to simplify, we should figure out a better expression for $Q(t)$. As usual, we make use of the half-life.} \\ Q(138)&=\frac{C}{2}\\ Ce^{-k\cdot138}&=\frac{C}{2}\\ \left(e^{-k}\right)^{138}&=\frac{1}{2}=2^{-1}\\ e^{-k}&=2^{-\tfrac{1}{138}} \\ \text{Now, we have a better formula for $Q(t)$:} \\ Q(t)&=C\left(e^{-k}\right)^t\\ Q(t)&=C\cdot2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}} \\ \text{Finally, we can evaluate what percentage of the sample decays in a day.} \\ 100\frac{Q(t)-Q(t+1)}{Q(t)}&=100\frac{C\cdot2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}}-C\cdot2^{-\tfrac{t+1}{138}}}{C\cdot2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}}}\left(\frac{\frac{1}{C}}{\frac{1}{C}}\right)\\ &=100\frac{2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}}-2^{-\tfrac{t+1}{138}}}{2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}}}\\ &=100\left(2^{-\tfrac{t}{138}}-2^{-\tfrac{t+1}{138}}\right)2^{\tfrac{t}{138}}\\ &=100\left(1-2^{-\tfrac{1}{138}}\right)\approx 0.5 \end{aligned}$$

About 0.5% of the sample decays in a day.

Remark: when we say that half a percent of the sample decays in a day, we don't mean half a percent of the original sample. If a day starts out with, say, 1 microgram, then what decays in the next 24 hours is about half a percent of that 1 microgram, regardless of what the “original" sample (at some time $t=0$) held.

In particular, since the sample is getting smaller and smaller, that half of a percent that decays every day represents fewer and fewer actual atoms decaying. That's why we can't say that half of the sample (50%) will decay after about 100 days, even though 0.5% decays every day and $100\times 0.5 = 50$.

The amount of Uranium-232 in the sample of ore at time $t$ will be

$$\begin{aligned} Q(t)&=Q(0)e^{-kt} \\ \text{where $6.9 \leq Q(0) \leq 7.5$. We don't exactly know $Q(0)$, and we don't exactly know the half-life, so we also won't exactly know $Q(10)$: we can only say that is it between two numbers. Our strategy is to find the highest and lowest possible values of $Q(10)$, given the information in the problem.} \\ \\ \text{In order for the most possible Uranium-232 to be in the sample after 10 years, we should start with the most and have the longest half-life (since this represents the slowest decay). So, we take $Q(0)=7.5$ and $Q(70)=\frac{1}{2}(7.5)$.} \\ Q(t)&=7.5e^{-kt}\\ \frac{1}{2}(7.5)=Q(70)&=7.5e^{-k(70)}\\ \frac{1}{2}&=\left(e^{-k}\right)^{70}\\ 2^{-\tfrac{1}{70}}&=e^{-k} \\ \text{So, in this secenario,} \\ Q(t)&=7.5\cdot 2^{-\tfrac{t}{70}} \\ \text{After ten years,} \\ Q(10)&=7.5\cdot 2^{-\tfrac{10}{70}}\approx 6.79 \\ \text{So after ten years, the sample contains \textit{at most} 6.8 $\mu$g.} \\ \\ \text{Now, let's think about the least possible amount of Uranium-232 that could be left after 10 years. We should start with as little as possible, so take $Q(0)=6.9$, and the sample should decay quickly, so take the half-life to be 68.8 years.} \\ Q(t)&=6.9e^{-kt}\\ \frac{1}{2}6.9=Q(68.8)&=6.9e^{-k(68.8)}\\ \frac{1}{2}&=\left(e^{-k}\right)^{68.8}\\ 2^{-\tfrac{1}{68.8}}&=e^{-k} \\ \text{In this scenario,} \\ Q(t)&=6.9\cdot 2^{-\tfrac{t}{68.8}} \\ \text{After ten years,} \\ Q(10)&=6.9\cdot 2^{-\tfrac{10}{68.8}}\approx 6.24 \\ \text{So after ten years, the sample contains \textit{at least} 6.2 $\mu$g.} \\ \end{aligned}$$

After ten years, the sample contains between 6.2 and 6.8 $\mu$g of Uranium-232.

According to the Malthusian Model, if the ship wrecked at year $t=0$ and 2 rats washed up on the island, then $t$ years after the wreck, the population of rats will be

$$\begin{aligned} P(t)&=2e^{bt} \\ \text{for some constant $b$. We want to get rid of this extraneous variable $b$, so we use the given information. If 1928 is $a$ years after the wreck:} \\ 1000=P(a)&=2e^{ba}\\ 1500=P(a+1)&=2e^{b(a+1)}=2e^{ba}e^b \\ \text{So,} \\ (1000)\left(e^b\right)&=\left(2e^{ba}\right)\left(e^b\right)=1500 \\ \text{Which tells us} \\ e^b&=\frac{1500}{1000}=1.5 \\ \text{Now, our model is complete:} \\ P(t)&=2\left(e^b\right)^t=2\cdot1.5^t \\ \text{Since $P(a)=1000$, we can find $a$:} \\ 1000=P(a)&=2\cdot1.5^a\\ 500&=1.5^a\\ \log(500)&=\log\left(1.5^a\right)=a\log(1.5)\\ a&=\frac{\log(500)}{\log(1.5)}\approx 15.3 \end{aligned}$$

So, the year 1928 was about 15.3 years after the shipwreck. Since we aren't given a month when the rats reached exactly 1000 in number, that puts the shipwreck at the year 1912 or 1913.

Let $Q(t)$ denote the amount of radioactive material after $t$ days. Then $Q(t)=Q(0)e^{kt}$. We are told

$$\begin{aligned} Q(8)&=0.8\,Q(0) \\ \text{So,} \\ Q(0)e^{8k}&=0.8\,Q(0)\\ e^{8k}&=0.8\\ e^k&=0.8^{\tfrac{1}{8}} \\ \text{If $Q(0)=100$, the time $t$ at which $Q(t)=40$ is determined by} \\ 40=Q(t)&=Q(0)e^{kt}=100e^{kt}=100\left(0.8^{\tfrac{1}{8}}\right)^t=100\cdot 0.8^{\tfrac{t}{8}} \\ \text{Solving for $t$:} \\ \frac{40}{100}&=0.8^{\tfrac{t}{8}}\\ \log\left(0.4\right)&=\log\left(0.8^{\tfrac{t}{8}}\right)=\frac{t}{8}\log(0.8)\\ t&=\frac{8\log(0.4)}{\log(0.8)}\approx 32.85\text{ days} \end{aligned}$$

100 grams will decay to 40 grams in about 32.85 days.