Question #125220

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And How to derive it?

Expert's answer

The correct answer is ΔN\Delta N is proportional to NΔtN\Delta t, or the amount of decayed particles is proportional to the initial number number of particles and time of decay. Mathematically, it can be written as


ΔNNΔt\Delta N\propto N\Delta t


(do not confuse the proportionality symbol \propto with a Greek letter α\alpha, or alpha).

Indeed, imagine that we have N particles in a closed system. Imagine that we started the observation at t1 and finished at t2. Assume that k particles decayed. It means that during time Δt=t2t1\Delta t=t_2-t_1 the number of particles that decayed is proportional to ΔN=kNΔt,\Delta N=-kN\Delta t, the negative sign shows that the number of particles left decreases. Mathematically, we have


ΔN=kNΔtΔNNΔt.\Delta N=-kN\Delta t\leftrightarrow\Delta N\propto N\Delta t.


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