Radioactive Decay as a Probability Distribution
Radioactive Decay as a Probability Distribution
Radioactive decay is often described in terms of a probability distribution, since one cannot predict when an individual atom will decay. The probability that particles will disintegrate in the time interval is given by
n
Δt
ω=exp-
1
π
-3/2
(2λΔt)
N
0
2
(n-λΔt)
N
0
where is the initial number of nuclei present and is the decay constant characteristic of the radioactive isotope.
N
0
λ