Analysis of a rock sample shows that it contains 6.25% of its original uranium-235. How old is the rock? How do you know?

Explanation:

A radioactive isotope is an isotope that undergoes nuclear decay, breaking apart into a smaller nucleus and emitting radiation during the process.

The half-life of an isotope is the amount of time it takes for a certain quantity of a radioactive isotope to halve.

For a radioactive isotope, the amount of substance left after a certain time t is:

(1)

where

is the mass of the substance at time t = 0

m(t) is the mass of the substance at time t

is the half-life of the isotope

In this problem, the isotope is uranium-235, which has a half-life of

We also know that the amount of uranium left in the rock sample is 6.25% of its original value, this means that

Substituting into (1) and solving for t, we can find how much time has passed:

vanderwaal's forces of attraction are the electrostatic intermolecular forces that exist in a molecule due to the temporary or permanent dipoles that are developed in a molecule. in , the major intermolecular forces are dipole-dipole interactions as the molecule is polar (bent structure). so the vanderwaal's forces of interaction in between molecules are the permanent dipole-dipole interactions that develop due to the dipole that exists in between the polar h - s bond. the positively charged hydrogen atom is attracted towards the negative end of the dipole that is sulfur of the adjacent molecule. therefore, these forces of attraction are relatively stronger than that of london dispersion forces that exist in non polar molecules.