half
life
Plural
half-lives
1
the time required for half of a quantity of a substance to undergo a change or decay, typically in the context of radioactive decay or chemical reactions
- The half-life of a radioactive isotope determines the time it takes for half of the initial amount to decay into a stable product.
- Carbon-14, with a half-life of around 5,730 years, is used in radiocarbon dating to estimate the age of archaeological artifacts.
- The half-life of a chemical reaction refers to the time it takes for the reactant concentration to decrease by half during a reaction.
- The half-life of certain industrial pollutants can impact environmental cleanup efforts, as longer half-lives may result in persistent contamination.
- The concept of half-life is applicable in fields such as pharmacology, geology, physics, and environmental science.