Definitions for half-life
-ˌlaɪvzhalf-life

Princeton's WordNetRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. half life, half-lifenoun

   the time required for something to fall to half its initial value (in particular, the time for half the atoms in a radioactive substance to disintegrate)

GCIDERate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Half-lifenoun

   the time it takes for one-half of a substance decaying in a first-order reaction to be destroyed. For radioactive substances, it is the time required for one-half of the initial amount of the radioactive isotope to decay. The half-lifeis a measure of the rate of the reaction being observed. For processes that are true first-order processes, such as radioactive decay, the half-life is independent of the quantity of material present, and it is thus a constant. The time it takes for one-half the remaining quantity of a radioactive isotope to decay will be the same regardless of how far the decay process has advanced. Some chemical reactions are also first order, and may be characterized as having a half-life. However, for chemical reactions the half-life will depend upon temperature and in some cases other environmental conditions, whereas for radioactive isotopes the rate of decay is largely independent of the environment.

WiktionaryRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. half-lifenoun

   The time required for half of the nuclei in a sample of a specific isotope to undergo radioactive decay.

2. half-lifenoun

   In a chemical reaction, the time required for the concentration of a reactant to fall from a chosen value to half that value.

ChatGPTRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. half-life

   Half-life is the amount of time required for a quantity to reduce to half its initial value. This term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay, but can also be used in relation to any quantity which follows an exponential decay pattern, such as the decay of pharmaceutical drugs in the body or the depreciation of assets.

WikidataRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Half-life

   Half-life is the time required for a quantity to fall to half its value as measured at the beginning of the time period. In physics, it is typically used to describe a property of radioactive decay, but may be used to describe any quantity which follows an exponential decay. The original term, dating to Ernest Rutherford's discovery of the principle in 1907, was "half-life period", which was shortened to "half-life" in the early 1950s. Half-life is used to describe a quantity undergoing exponential decay, and is constant over the lifetime of the decaying quantity. It is a characteristic unit for the exponential decay equation. The term "half-life" may generically be used to refer to any period of time in which a quantity falls by half, even if the decay is not exponential. For a general introduction and description of exponential decay, see exponential decay. For a general introduction and description of non-exponential decay, see rate law. The converse of half-life is doubling time. The table on the right shows the reduction of a quantity in terms of the number of half-lives elapsed.

U.S. National Library of MedicineRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. Half-Life

   The time it takes for a substance (drug, radioactive nuclide, or other) to lose half of its pharmacologic, physiologic, or radiologic activity.

Dictionary of Military and Associated TermsRate this definition:0.0 / 0 votes

1. half-life

   The time required for the activity of a given radioactive species to decrease to half of its initial value due to radioactive decay. The half-life is a characteristic property of each radioactive species and is independent of its amount or condition. The effective half-life of a given isotope is the time in which the quantity in the body will decrease to half as a result of both radioactive decay and biological elimination.

Matched Categories

1. • Time Period

How to pronounce half-life?

1. Alex

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How to say half-life in sign language?

Numerology

1. Chaldean Numerology

   The numerical value of half-life in Chaldean Numerology is: 7

2. Pythagorean Numerology

   The numerical value of half-life in Pythagorean Numerology is: 5

Examples of half-life in a Sentence

1. David Solomon:

   There is a short half-life. The longer you wait, the more it depreciates in value.

2. Marc Baum:

   You’re very limited with the range of drugs that are amenable to this technology, they have to be potent, have a long half-life in the body and be very soluble.

3. James Curleigh:

   The best that you ever look in a piece of fast fashion is the first time you wear it. It has this sort of half-life, we'd rather people have fewer products, but better products from Levi's.

4. David Brenner:

   Radioactivity has a half-life, it does simply decay away in roughly a day or two.

References

1. ^ Princeton's WordNet
   http://wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=half-life
2. ^ GCIDE
   https://gcide.gnu.org.ua/?q=half-life
3. ^ Wiktionary
   https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Half-Life
4. ^ ChatGPT
   https://chat.openai.com
5. ^ Wikidata
   https://www.wikidata.org/w/index.php?search=half-life
6. ^ Dictionary of Military and Associated Terms
   https://www.tradoc.army.mil/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/AD1029823-DOD-Dictionary-of-Military-and-Associated-Terms-2017.pdf