Becquerel

The becquerel (symbol: Bq), equivalent to s^-1, is the SI derived unit of radioactivity (A). 1 Bq is defined as the number of times a nucleus decays every second.

Formula

$A={\frac {-dN}{dt}}=\lambda N$

where $N$ is the number of radioactive atoms in a radioactive sample, which has no unit, and $\lambda$ is the decay constant measuring how fast radioactive decay occurs over time, which depends on the nature of the radioactive sample, particularly the constituent isotopes.

Half-life

The half-life is the time required for half of the radioactive atoms of a sample to decay. It can be found by the simple formula

$t={\frac {0.693}{\lambda }}$.

Petabecquerel

A petabecquerel corresponds to 10¹⁵ times a Bq. The unit is named in honor of French physicists Henri Becquerel.

Related pages

• Curie
• Sievert
• Atomic orbital
• Atomic physics
• Particle physics
• Nuclear physics
• Quantum mechanics
• Classical mechanics
• Nuclear binding energy
• Mass-energy equivalence