The mass y (mg) of the radioactive substance cobalt-60 present in a sample at time t (years) is represented by the exponential equation y=50e^ −0.1315 t .
1. how does the exponential equation above compare to the equation for simple interest that is compounded continuously? explain the similarities.
2. what is the initial amount of cobalt-60 in the sample?
2. how much cobalt-60 is left after 8.4 years? show your work.
3. what would be the y-intercept of the graph? what does it represent?
4. after how many years will the amount of cobalt-60 left be 6.25 mg? explain what happens to the cobalt-60 after 50 years?
5. discuss some “real-world” examples and uses of cobalt-60.