A student estimates the number of disintegrations in a interval by multiplying the…

PHYSICS · Single correct · A Level · Physics · Nuclear physics · Nuclear physics

Problem

A student estimates the number of disintegrations in a

30\,\text{min}

interval by multiplying the initial activity by the time. The actual initial activity is

2.0\times10^{4}\,\text{s}^{-1}

and the decay constant is

5.0\times10^{-4}\,\text{s}^{-1}

. What is the percentage error in the student’s estimate? (a)

35\%

(b)

59\%

(c)

52\%

(d)

42\%