Radioactive Decay: the Half-Life of Cobalt-60 Is 5

question 5

Multiple Choice

Radioactive decay: The half-life of cobalt-60 is 5.3 years, while that of strontium-90 is 28 years. Suppose that samples of cobalt-60 and strontium-90 are such that they initially have the same activity (number of decays per second) . What is true about the initial numbers of cobalt-60 and strontium-90 nuclei in these samples?

• A) There are more strontium-90 than cobalt-60 nuclei.
• B) There are equal numbers of cobalt-60 and strontium-90 nuclei.
• C) There are more cobalt-60 than strontium-90 nuclei.
• D) It is not possible to compare numbers of nuclei without knowing the masses of the samples.

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