On 21 Jun 2006 14:40:00 +0200, Chris Bacon wrote:

Jim Scott wrote:
Chris Bacon wrote:
Jim Scott wrote:
Steve S wrote:
"EricP" wrote :
I was told that the radiation detectors at Sellafield/Windscale were
sensitive enough to trigger an alarm if somebody went past them
carrying a pack of cigarettes -
Sounds like ******** to me
Do they set it off as well then???

Dunno, but what I want to know is: do cats have eighteen half-lives?
I think you'll find that they have an infinite number!
Not like radioactive substances, then, which don't have an
infinite number.

Where did you learn your atomics then?

Suppose you've got a known number of atoms of something
radioactive. Can the number of half-lives before they
decay to some other substance be infinite?

Yes because each time you go through a half-life then the rate of decay
halves too.
Imagine a frog crossing a road. His first jump is half way, his next jump is
half of that and so on. How long before he reaches the other side?
--
Jim
Tyneside UK
http://www.jimscot.plus.com