Decay Correct

Decay correct is a method of adjusting the measurements of radioactive decay obtained at two different time points so that they may be used as a single data set. If a chemical compound is tagged with a radioactive isotope then the amount of radiation released in a period of time is proportional to the number of atoms of the isotope; but as time passes some of the isotope decays and the isotope remaining (which is measured by the radiation) is no longer the same as the amount of compound present. Decay correction is a mathematical method of determining the amount of compound present given the amount of isotope remaining.

Read more about Decay Correct:  Use, Mathematics, Example

Famous quotes containing the words decay and/or correct:

    It has taken me nearly twenty years of studied self-restraint, aided by the natural decay of my faculties, to make myself dull enough to be accepted as a serious person by the British public; and I am not sure that I am not still regarded as a suspicious character in some quarters.
    George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950)

    One must first correct oneself before correcting others.
    —Chinese proverb.

    Confucian Analects.