"Jim Scott" wrote in message
...
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?


Distance is infinitely divisible. Atoms are discrete so once you get down
(and you will) to one it either goes or it doesn't, it can't half go. The
progression will not be infinite therefore (although it might take a while
) )


--
Bob Mannix
(anti-spam is as easy as 1-2-3 - not)