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| Half Life |
| The half-life describes the amount of time needed for half of a sample of unstable atoms or particles to undergo decay. Thallium-208, for example, decays into lead-208 with a half-life of 3.05 minutes. This means that half of a sample of thallium-208 will decay into lead-208 over the course of 3.05 minutes. |
| Scientists can not predict when a particular atom or particle will decay. They only know that, on average, half of a sample will decay during the span of one half-life |