Question

Difference between half- life and average life of a radioactive substance.

Answer 1

Hint: The particles released from nuclei as a result of nuclear instability are referred to as radioactivity. Since the nucleus is subjected to such intense conflict between the two most powerful forces in nature, it's no surprise that many nuclear isotopes are unstable and emit radiation.

Complete answer:
Certain forms of matter have the ability to release energy and subatomic particles naturally, which is known as radioactivity. It's essentially a property of atomic nuclei. An unstable nucleus will spontaneously decompose, or decay, into a more stable configuration, but only in a few particular ways, such as by releasing specific particles or electromagnetic energy. Several naturally occurring elements, as well as artificially created isotopes of the elements, have radioactive decay as a property. The half-life of a radioactive element is the amount of time it takes for one-half of any given quantity of the isotope to decay.
Now, some differences between half- life and average life of a radioactive substance are as follows:

Half life	Average life
i. The half- life of a radioactive element is the amount of time it takes for half of it to decay.	i. The average life of a radioactive material in a sample is the estimated lifespan of that substance
ii. ${t_{\dfrac{1}{2}}}$is the symbol for it.	ii. It is denoted by the symbol $\tau $
iii. ${t_{\dfrac{1}{2}}}$=half- life=$\left( {\dfrac{{{{\ln }_2}}}{\lambda }} \right)$where $\lambda $ is the decay constant.	iii. $\tau $=average life=${\lambda _1}$

Note:
Radiation is now used to support humanity in medicine, academia, and industry, as well as to generate energy. Radiation is also useful in agriculture, archaeology (carbon dating), space exploration, law enforcement, geology (including mining), and a variety of other fields.