Send to a Friend
Why is there no formula to compute the half-life of any given radioisotope?
)
June 25th, 2011
Calculators like http://www.radprocalculator.com/Decay.aspx rely on large internal tables, which were created by using the results of experiments.
These experiments are all based on simple observations: Count. Wait. Count again. Here’s your half-life.
But why does it have to be that way? We know about the strong and weak nuclear force. We understand quantum mechanics. So why can’t we just take a nucleus with 6 protons and 8 neutrons for example and calculate how these particles interact? And come up with 5730 years without relying on experiments (of course experiments are a great way to confirm our formulas).
Where’s the difficulty?
Using Fluther
or
