Exponential decay: every half-life halves what is left
Bars shrinking from 100% to 50%, 25%, 12.5%, and 6.25% illustrate how a radioactive sample loses the same fraction, not the same amount, every half-life. The animation links the discrete bar heights to the continuous curve N(t) = N0(1/2)^(t/T) = N0 e^(-λt), using carbon-14 as a concrete case. Useful for chemistry or physics students learning exponential decay, half-life, and radiometric dating.
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The prompt that made it
Bars at 100%, 50%, 25%, 12.5%, 6.25% along the decay curve N(t) = N0 (1/2)^(t/T) = N0 e^(-lambda t); the same fraction disappears in every interval, with carbon-14 as the example.
Make the next one in this series
- Show how carbon-14 dating estimates the age of a fossil from its remaining fraction
- Compare half-life curves for two isotopes with very different decay constants
- Derive the relationship between half-life T and decay constant λ step by step
