Project Exponential Decay Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Project Exponential Decay - Assignment Example Many researchers have fronted the idea that radioactive decay occurs in an exponential manner. According to the quantum theory, the half life of an element remains predictable. Yet, it is impossible to predict the exact moment an isolated nucleus of an atom will disintegrate in radioactive decay (Brady, 2009). It is against this knowledge that this research results were based. Mathematically, the results obtained from throwing a six-sided dice have been shown to follow an exponential pattern/ distribution. The experiments discussed were designed to display the relevance of throwing a dice to that of radioactive decay. In the first experiment, ten six-sided dice were thrown and the numbers that appeared each time recorded. The procedure was repeated each time removing a dice that had six after throwing. This was continued until all the dice had been emptied. The experiment was repeated using a limitless Excel number generator and finally with a 10-sided dice. As expected, the first experiment showed a gradually decreasing trend, synonymous with exponential decay. At time t=0 the total number of dice was 10. This corresponded to the number of un-decayed nuclei as explained by Murray and Hart (Murray, Arthur & Hart, 2012). Subsequent results were recorded as follows: t=1; 7 dice left, t = 2; 4 dice left, t=3; 4 dice left, t=4; 3 dice left, t=5; 1 dice left, and t=6; 0 dice left. These results are better displayed in the graph below. The second experiment involved 10 trials. At the time point t=0 there were 20 dice. Subsequent trials indicated the number of dice remaining per time as indicated in the graph. Apparently, there was a constant display after the eighth trial. These results are displayed in the graph below. The third experiment was based on 398 dice to begin with, representing an equal number of un-decayed nuclei. This was marked as the