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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997  > May  >
Chemistry Everyday for Everyone
Dice Shaking as an Analogy for Radioactive Decay and First Order Kinetics
Emeric Schultz
Department of Chemistry, Bloomsburg University, 4100 East Second St., Bloomsburg, PA 17815-1301
Cover
May 1997
Vol. 74 No. 5
p. 505
Abstract
An experiment involving the shaking of sets of different sided dice is described. Dice of 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 and 20 sides are readily available. This experiment serves as an easily understood analogy for radioactive decay and for the more general case of first order kinetics. The shaking of one of the possible numbers on a certain type of dice corresponds to the nuclear state that results in radioactive decay. Students shake a set of six dice, removing those for which the selected number has been shaken. With students working in groups and with pooled data, it can easily be demonstrated that the half life increases as the number of sides of the dice increases. When the data are placed in a spreadsheet and plotted, there is a very good fit to the expected logarithmic relationship that describes first order reactions. This experiment can be coupled to a traditional half life determination of a radionuclide. There is an excellent correlation between the types of curves obtained for the two experiments. The probabilistic nature of radioactive decay is clearly demonstrated. Ways in which this analogy can be extended as a means of understanding first order kinetics are described.

See Letter re: this article.
More Information
*  Citation
 Schultz, Emeric. J. Chem. Educ. 1997 74 505.
*  Keywords
 Demonstrations, Laboratory Instruction, Kinetics Nuclear/Radiochemistry
*  History
 Created:
Last Updated:		 July 28, 1999
June 23, 2005
Link to Letter added (May 2004).
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  Home > JCE Print > Journal of Chemical Education > Issues > 1997 > May > Page 505


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