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10th grade Half-life: how much is left worksheet

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Half-life: how much is left

Grade 10 Science Worksheet

NameDate

Circle the best answer, or write your answer on the line.

  1. A sample holds 80 mg of iodine-131, which has a half-life of 8.02 days. How much is left after 24.06 days, Ari?

  2. A sample holds 100 mg of technetium-99m, which has a half-life of 6.01 hours. How much is left after 18.03 hours, Esme?

  3. Read this first

    Decay of a tracer sample (example data)

    time (days)mass left (mg)
    080
    840
    1620
    2410
  4. Using the table, what is the half-life of the tracer, Jun?

    • 24 days
    • 40 days
    • 8 days
  5. Using the table, how much tracer is left at 32 days, Kira?

    • 2.5 mg
    • 5 mg
    • 0 mg
  6. Using the table, which isotope's half-life fits the tracer best, Luz?

    • Iodine-131, 8.02 days
    • Carbon-14, 5,730 years
    • Technetium-99m, 6.01 hours
  7. How many half-lives pass before 1/8 of a sample is left, Noah?

    • 8
    • 4
    • 3
  8. A wooden tool has half the carbon-14 of a living tree. About how old is it, Pia?

    • About 5,730 years
    • About 2,865 years
    • About 11,460 years
  9. Why can't carbon-14 date a fossil that is 66 million years old, Ren?

    • Fossils have too much carbon-14
    • Carbon-14 decays too slowly
    • Too little carbon-14 would be left
  10. Which object could carbon-14 dating date, Tala?

    • A 3,000-year-old wooden bowl
    • A 66-million-year-old fossil
    • A piece of granite rock
  11. Where does new carbon-14 keep forming, Zee?

    • In the ocean floor
    • In the upper atmosphere
    • Deep inside rocks
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10th grade Half-life: how much is left worksheet – printable
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About this worksheet

Half-life: how much is left. Every version has 10 questions, and the answer key prints on the second page.

What your child will learn

  • I can say a half-life is the time for half of a sample to decay, and that (1/2)ⁿ remains after n half-lives.
  • I can find the amount left, the half-life from data, and the time to reach a fraction.
  • I can date once-living things with carbon-14 (5,730 years) and say its limits.
  • I can say why short half-lives suit medical tracers.

Standard: supports HS-ESS1-5, HS-ESS1-6

Words to know

half-life: Time for half of a radioactive sample to decay

decay: A nucleus changing and giving off radiation

carbon-14 dating: Finding age from the carbon-14 left in once-living material

tracer: A small amount of a radioactive isotope followed by a detector

activity: Decays per minute, measured by counts

Common mistakes

Your child treated decay as losing the same amount each time. Each half-life halves what is left, so the amount shrinks by (1/2)ⁿ.

Questions parents ask

What is the most common mistake with half-life: how much is left?

Your child treated decay as losing the same amount each time. Each half-life halves what is left, so the amount shrinks by (1/2)ⁿ.

Are these 10th grade science worksheets free to print?

Yes. All 6 printable versions at each level are free to print, with the answer key, and no account is needed.

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