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decay constant

American  

noun

Physics.
  1. the reciprocal of the decay time.


Etymology

Origin of decay constant

First recorded in 1930–35

Example Sentences

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Exponential growth has a positive rate of growth or growth constant, k , and exponential decay has a negative rate of growth or decay constant, k.

From Textbooks May 6, 2020

First we must find the decay constant k.

From Textbooks May 6, 2020

U-238 decays into Pb-206 with a half-life of 4.5 109 y, so the decay constant λ is:

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

The decay constant can be determined from the half-life of C-14, 5730 years:

From Textbooks Feb. 14, 2019

To begin with, it was discovered that one of the basic components of Libby’s formula, known as the decay constant, was off by about 3 percent.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

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