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Cryogenics And Radio-Active Decay Of Human Body


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The half-life of 40K is 1,248,000,000 years, so the answer depends on the time frame you are expecting.  I would suspect that a reasonable answer would be, "no".

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_potassium

 

In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of 40K decay per second. Would this not affect the stability of the human body. (preserved). ? :sherlock: 

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In a human body of 70 kg mass, about 4,400 nuclei of 40K decay per second. Would this not affect the stability of the human body. (preserved). ? :sherlock: 

So? 4.4x10^3 is significantly less than one mole of 40K.  At 4,400 nuclei decaying per second, you would need roughly 10^20 seconds of decay to end up with roughly 40 grams of decayed potassium, or roughly 230 times the age of the universe.

 

http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=10%5E20+seconds

Edited by JMJones0424
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