AIM: How can we use coin flips to model half-life?
Today we tackled the problem of half-life math, which can get a little tricky to visualize. We used 100 pennies (a sample of “radioactive” elements) as our model. Each time we dumped out the pennies, about half came up heads (but not usually exactly half, as we will see tomorrow!). We said that the heads were decayed and stable (i.e. boring). So we set the heads aside and shook up the tails again to see when they would decay. We repeated the process until all of our radioactive elements (pennies) had decayed (come up heads).
Tomorrow we will work on graphing the data and comparing it to our mathematical models.
REMEMBER, there is homework. Get a jump on the problems you took home and save the conclusions for tomorrow night.
Speaking of homework, the marking period is on its way out next week. Make sure you get any overdue work in. You can find information on the heating and cooling lab here, and the hypothesis here.
Presentation: [gview file=”https://www.whsad.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/Penny_HalfLife.pdf”]
