Meaning of the word half-life in English
What does half-life mean in English? Explore the meaning, pronunciation, and specific usage of this word with Lingoland.
half-life
US /ˈhæf.laɪf/
UK /ˈhɑːf.laɪf/
Noun
1.
the time taken for the radioactivity of a specified isotope to fall to half its original value.
Example:
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The half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years.
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Scientists calculate the half-life to determine the age of ancient artifacts.
2.
the time required for a quantity to reduce to half its initial value (e.g., in pharmacology, the time for a drug's concentration in the body to be reduced by half).
Example:
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The drug has a half-life of 8 hours, meaning its concentration in the bloodstream will halve every 8 hours.
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Understanding the half-life of a substance is crucial in environmental science for assessing pollutant persistence.
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