Radioactive Decay
Aubrey Weese

Download my Excel Workbook for these Radioactive Decay problems
(also includes the problems in Assigment 6).

Problem 1. Radioactive Decay Spreadsheet Calculation.

This chart shows radioactive decay of nuclei which is described by the differential equation dN/dt = - N/t. The pink line is the analytical solution to this equation and the blue line is the Euler approximation. The chart uses a time step Dt = 0.10 seconds.

Problem 6. Couple Radioactive Decay, Part 1

This graph shows how many nuclei are present at each time in the situation where type A nuclei decay into type B nuclei, which then also decay. It uses a Euler approximation of the two differential equations dN_A/dt = - N_A/t_A and dN_B/dt = N_A/t_A - N_B/t_B, with time step Dt = 0.10 seconds, time constant t_A = 1 second, and time constant t_B = 1 second.

Problem 7. Couple Radioactive Decay, Part 2

This graph shows how many nuclei are present at each time in the situation where type A nuclei decay into type B nuclei, and type B nuclei decay back into type A nuclei. It uses a Euler approximation of the two differential equations dN_A/dt = N_B/t - N_A/t and dN_B/dt = N_A/t - N_B/t, with time step Dt = 0.10 seconds, and time constant t = 1 second.

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