The age of wine can be determined by measuring the trace amount of radioactive tritium, ³H, present in a sample. Tritium is formed from hydrogen in water vapor in the upper atmosphere by cosmic bombardment, so all naturally ocurring water contains a small amount of this isotope. Once the water is in a bottle of wine, however, the formation of additional tritium from the water is negligible, so the tritium initially present gradually diminishes by a first-order radioactive decay with a half-life of 12.5 years. If a bottle of wine is found to have a tritium concentration that is 0.120 that of freshly bottled wine (i.e. [³H]; = 0.120 [³H]o), what is the age of the wine? vears

The age of wine can be determined by measuring the trace amount of radioactive tritium, ³H, present in a sample. Tritium is formed from hydrogen in water vapor in the upper atmosphere by cosmic bombardment, so all naturally ocurring water contains a small amount of this isotope. Once the water is in a bottle of wine, however, the formation of additional tritium from the water is negligible, so the tritium initially present gradually diminishes by a first-order radioactive decay with a half-life of 12.5 years. If a bottle of wine is found to have a tritium concentration that is 0.120 that of freshly bottled wine (i.e. [³H]; = 0.120 [³H]o), what is the age of the wine? vears

Chemistry: The Molecular Science

5th Edition

ISBN:9781285199047

Author:John W. Moore, Conrad L. Stanitski

Publisher:John W. Moore, Conrad L. Stanitski

Chapter18: Nuclear Chemistry

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 96QRT

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c. Plutonium-238 is used in spacecraft to provide heat to power generators. One of thesegenerators contained 765 g of plutonium-238 when it was manufactured. Given that thehalf-life of plutonium-238 is 87.7 years, calculate the mass of plutonium-238 remainingafter 350.0 years.
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