Physics, Sciences

College Physics Problem 1.31

How many times longer than the mean life of an extremely unstable atomic nucleus is the lifetime of a human? (Hint: The lifetime of an unstable atomic nucleus is on the order of  10-22 s .)

Solution:

The lifetime of a human is 2×109 s, while the lifetime of the unstable atomic nucleus is 10-22 s.

Therefore, human lifetime is much longer by

\displaystyle \frac{T_h}{T_n}=\frac{2\times 10^9\:sec}{10^{-22}\:sec}=2\times 10^{31}\:times          ☚