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Decay Constant Calculator

Formula

The formula to calculate the decay constant is:

$\lambda = \frac{\ln(2)}{t_{1/2}}$

Where:

λ is the decay constant (s^-1)
t_1/2 is the half-life (seconds)

What is a Decay Constant?

A decay constant is defined as the ratio between the half-life of a substance and the total size of the substance. It represents the probability per unit time that a given particle will decay.

Example Calculation

Example:

Half-Life (t_1/2): 5730 seconds

Step 1: Calculate the decay constant:

$\lambda = \frac{\ln(2)}{5730} \approx 0.000121 \text{ s}^{-1}$