Consider 100 g of 252Fm, which decays in a sequence of 5 αdecays to eventually reach 232Th. The relevant half-livesfollow:
252 Fm :25.39 hr
248 Cf :333.5 d
244 Cm : 18.10 yr
240Pu : 6564yr
236 U :2.34 × 10^7 yr
232 Th :1.41 × 10^10 yr
For the following questions, state clearly any approximationsthat you need to make. a) How much of the original sample is 252Fmand how much is 248Cf after one day? b) After one month? c) Explainwhy it is mostly curium after 5 years. d) What isotope is it mostlyafter 100 years? e) Approximately how long it will take the sampleto be mostly thorium?
