Solve the following exponential application problem involving half life of a substance.Plutonium-239 has a half-life of 24,000 years. A rule of...

If it is given that radioactive wastes have to be stored
for a duration of time equal to 10 half-lives, that is the period for which it has to be
securely stored before it is harmless.

A half life is the
duration of time over which a substance degrades so that only half of the initial amount
is left at the end of the duration. 10 half-lives would leave behind an amount equal to
1/2^10 of the initial amount.

As far as your question goes,
if you need to find how long to store the plutonium if it has to be stored for 10 half
lives, the answer is obtained by simply multiplying the half life by 10. Here, as the
half life is 24000 years we get 24000*10 = 240,000
years.

The required duration that the
Plutonium 239 has to be stored for is 240,000
years.