Re: [Phys-l] models of radioactivity

[ludwik kowalski <kowalskil@mail.montclair.edu>]

I did not penetrate the argument against this T=ln(2)/lambda. Was it  
nothing more than a clarification, made by Brian today (that the  
number of radioactive atoms must be very large)?

Ludwik

On Apr 20, 2009, at 3:57 PM, Edmiston, Mike wrote:

> Perhaps a minor point, but it initially threw me off, and perhaps
> others, was Hugh's use of the letter p for the radioactive decay
> constant.  There is a standard symbol for the decay constant, and it  
> is
> lower-case lambda.  Thus, the half life is ln(2)/lambda.
>
> I guess there is no law saying you have to use lambda, but when  
> there is
> a standard symbol, it is helpful to use it.  If someone decides to  
> write
> an equation using b as the Boltzmann's constant rather than k, it's
> going to throw people off for a while.  Likewise, the use of p instead
> of lambda threw me off.
>
>
> Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D.
> Professor of Chemistry and Physics
> Bluffton University
> Bluffton, OH 45817
> (419)-358-3270
> edmiston@bluffton.edu
> _______________________________________________
> Forum for Physics Educators
> Phys-l@carnot.physics.buffalo.edu
> https://carnot.physics.buffalo.edu/mailman/listinfo/phys-l

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Ludwik Kowalski, a retired physics teacher and an amateur journalist.  
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