An element with mass 330 grams decays by per minute. How much of the element is
remaining after 5 minutes, to the nearest 1oth of a gram?

To find out how much of the element is remaining after 5 minutes, we can use the formula for exponential decay:

where is the initial amount (330 grams), is the decay rate (25.5% or 0.255), and is the time in minutes (5 minutes). Plugging in the numbers gives us:

So, after 5 minutes, approximately 61.1 grams of the element is remaining when rounded to the nearest tenth of a gram.

One interesting fact is that exponential decay occurs in a variety of contexts beyond just radioactive substances. For instance, similar principles are applied in factors such as the depreciation of car value over time, or even in how a population of bacteria decreases when antibiotics are administered.

If you’re ever curious about how decay rates manifest in real-life scenarios, think about food preservation! Various foods rot or decay at different rates, influenced by factors like temperature, moisture, and exposure to air. Monitoring these factors can help you keep your groceries fresh longer!