Nuclear Decay Chain for a slingshot
Built for researchers prototyping or validating an idea. Prototype fast, reproduce exactly, and share a citable, interactive version of your model. Simulate a slingshot live below — adjust the inputs and watch it respond, right in your browser.
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Every half-life, half the remaining atoms decay. After n half-lives, only (1/2)ⁿ is left — the basis of carbon dating and nuclear physics.
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Data Inspector
Governing equation
Runs locally in your browser — free forever. Scale to the cloud when reality gets heavy.
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Presets
Radioactive isotopes decay at a fixed half-life, so the fraction remaining in a sample is a clock. Measure it and you can read the age: t = half-life × log₂(1/fraction). Carbon-14 dates organic material up to ~50,000 years; uranium-238, with a 4.5-billion-year half-life, dates the oldest rocks and the age of the Earth itself.
Data Inspector
Governing equation
Runs locally in your browser — free forever. Scale to the cloud when reality gets heavy.
Controls
Presets
The three ways to reduce radiation dose are time, distance, and shielding. Dose builds with exposure time but falls with the square of distance — doubling your distance quarters the dose. Effective dose in millisieverts lets you compare any exposure to everyday references like a chest X-ray or the annual background dose. Educational estimate only.
Data Inspector
Governing equation
Runs locally in your browser — free forever. Scale to the cloud when reality gets heavy.
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Frequently asked questions
- Is this good for researchers?
- Yes — this version of "Nuclear Decay Chain for a slingshot" is framed for researchers prototyping or validating an idea. Prototype fast, reproduce exactly, and share a citable, interactive version of your model.
- Do I need to install anything?
- No. It runs in any modern browser, free, with no account required.