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Subject:
Chemistry
Category: Science > Chemistry Asked by: ebmust-ga List Price: $5.00 |
Posted:
30 Oct 2005 18:42 PST
Expires: 09 Nov 2005 09:49 PST Question ID: 586867 |
What is the difference between a molecule or set of molecule's half life and the time it becomes undetectable in the blood? For instance, if substance X has a half life of 2 days and is ingested by a person, is there a way to know when that substance will become undetectable? |
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There is no answer at this time. |
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Subject:
Re: Chemistry
From: mikewa-ga on 31 Oct 2005 04:35 PST |
It is a function of the sensitivity of the test. The more sensitive the test is, the longer you will be able to detect the substance. Once you know the lower limit of the test, it is straightforward to determine how long you will need to wait. |
Subject:
Re: Chemistry
From: knickers-ga on 03 Nov 2005 05:54 PST |
The previous comment is valid i,e you need to know test sensitivity but the following may help. As you probably know half life is the time taken for 50% of the product to decay or decompose. I assume you are mainly interested in radioactive decay but principle is the same. The amount of product remaining takes the following path. Numer of half lifes Amount decomposed 1 50% 2 75% 3 87.5 4 93.75 5 96.9 6 98.4 7 99.2 8 99.6 9 99.8 10 99.9 Once you get down to 0.5% of your original product I suspect most tests would be at there limit. Nick |
Subject:
Re: Chemistry
From: czarbmh-ga on 06 Nov 2005 19:58 PST |
In nuclear terms, as opposed to the biological terms suggested, the standard rule for operators is 5 halflives to nothingness, and to regulators (EPA, NRC, DoD, etc.) they usually use 7 half lives. These are usually applied to Co-60, N-16, Cs-137, etc. |
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