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  2. Exponential decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_decay

    Exponential decay. A quantity undergoing exponential decay. Larger decay constants make the quantity vanish much more rapidly. This plot shows decay for decay constant ( λ) of 25, 5, 1, 1/5, and 1/25 for x from 0 to 5. A quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value.

  3. Half-life - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Half-life

    Half-life (symbol t½) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable atoms survive. The term is also used more generally to characterize any type of exponential (or, rarely ...

  4. Time constant - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_constant

    In physics and engineering, the time constant, usually denoted by the Greek letter τ (tau), is the parameter characterizing the response to a step input of a first-order, linear time-invariant (LTI) system. [1] [note 1] The time constant is the main characteristic unit of a first-order LTI system. In the time domain, the usual choice to ...

  5. Exponential growth - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exponential_growth

    Exponential growth is a process that increases quantity over time at an ever-increasing rate. It occurs when the instantaneous rate of change (that is, the derivative) of a quantity with respect to time is proportional to the quantity itself. Described as a function, a quantity undergoing exponential growth is an exponential function of time ...

  6. Particle decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Particle_decay

    Particle decay. In particle physics, particle decay is the spontaneous process of one unstable subatomic particle transforming into multiple other particles. The particles created in this process (the final state) must each be less massive than the original, although the total mass of the system must be conserved.

  7. Radioactive decay - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radioactive_decay

    t. e. Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is considered radioactive. Three of the most common types of decay are alpha, beta, and gamma decay.

  8. e-folding - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-folding

    e. -folding. In science, e-folding is the time interval in which an exponentially growing quantity increases by a factor of e; [1] it is the base- e analog of doubling time. This term is often used in many areas of science, such as in atmospheric chemistry, medicine and theoretical physics, especially when cosmic inflation is investigated.

  9. Doubling time - Wikipedia

    en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doubling_time

    The doubling time is a characteristic unit (a natural unit of scale) for the exponential growth equation, and its converse for exponential decay is the half-life. As an example, Canada's net population growth was 2.7 percent in the year 2022, dividing 72 by 2.7 gives an approximate doubling time of about 27 years.