The half life of radium 222 is 38 seconds if you had a 12 gram sample how much would be left after 72 seconds

3.2 grams The first thing to do is calculate how many half lives have expired. So take the time of 72 seconds and divide by the length of a half life which is 38 seconds. So 72 / 38 = 1.894736842 So we're over 1 half life, but not quite 2 half lives. So you'll have something less than 12/2 = 6 grams, but more than 12/4 = 3 grams. The exact answer is done by dividing 12 by 2 raised to the power of 1.8947. So let's calculate 2^1.8947 power = 12 g / (e ^ ln(2)*1.8947) = 12 g / (e ^ 0.693147181 * 1.8947) = 12 g / (e ^ 1.313305964) = 12 g / 3.718446464 = 3.227154167 g So rounded to 2 significant figures gives 3.2 grams.