- Is it a $\beta^+-\text{decay}$ or a $\beta^--\text{decay}?$
- The half-life of the decay scheme is 20.3 minutes. How much time will elapse before a mixture of 90% carbon-11 and 10% boron-11 (by the number of atoms) converts itself into a mixture of 10% carbon-11 and 90% boron-11?
Let the total no. of atoms be 100 N0.
| Carbon | Boron | |
| Initially | 90N0 | 10N0 |
| Finally | 10N0 | 90N0 |
Now, $10\text{N}_0=90\text{N}_0\text{e}^{-\lambda\text{t}}\Rightarrow\frac{1}9{}=\text{e}^{\frac{-0.693}{20.3}\times\text{t}}$ $\Big[$because $\text{t}_{\frac{1}2{}}=20.3\text{min}\Big]$
$\Rightarrow\text{In}\frac{1}9{}=\frac{-0.693}{20.3}\text{t}\Rightarrow\text{t}=\frac{2.1972\times20.3}{0.693}=64.36=64\text{min}.$