How is half life related to radioactive decay?

Radiation: Decay and Half-life. As mentioned previously, radioactive decay is the disintegration of an unstable atom with an accompanying emission of radiation. As a radioisotope atom decays to a more stable atom, it emits radiation only once. ... The decay of radioactive elements occurs at a fixed rate. read more

Radioactive Decay Constant. The rate of radioactive decay is typically expressed in terms of either the radioactive half-life, or the radioactive decay constant. They are related as follows: The decay constant is also sometimes called the disintegration constant. The half-life and the decay constant give the same information, so either may be used to characterize decay. read more

Radioactive Decay and Half-Life As mentioned previously, radioactive decay is the disintegration of an unstable atom with an accompanying emission of radiation. As a radioisotope atom decays to a more stable atom, it emits radiation only once. read more

The faster the decay, the shorter the half life. Half life (mathematically T_(1/2)) is how long it takes for half of the atoms in a substance to radioactively decay. read more