Fermium-253 Has a Half-Life of 3 $10^7$ Nuclei, How Long Will It Take for There to Be

question 154

Multiple Choice

Fermium-253 has a half-life of 3.00 days. If a sample of fermium originally has 7.37 × $10^7$ nuclei, how long will it take for there to be only 3.36 × $10^6$ fermium-253 nuclei left in this sample?

• A) 2.75 days
• B) 9.80 days
• C) 13.4 days
• D) 15.7 days
• E) 58.6 days

---

Definitions:

Internal Rate of Return

A metric used in financial analysis to estimate the profitability of potential investments, calculated as the rate of return that makes the net present value of all cash flows from a particular project equal to zero.

Compound Interest

A way of calculating interest whereby the charge is based on the initial principal amount as well as on the interest that has accumulated in prior periods of a loan or deposit.

Cash Inflow

Money received by a business, typically from operational, investing, and financing activities.

Net Present Value

The difference between the present value of cash inflows and outflows over a period of time, used to assess the profitability of an investment.