Maths Olympiad Prep

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Problem 650

AMC 10/12, early questions
Algebra Difficulty 3.0 Prove it CEMC Euclid · Canada · 2003

A lead box contains samples of two radioactive isotopes of iron. Isotope A decays so that after every 6 minutes, the number of atoms remaining is halved. Initially, there are twice as many atoms of isotope A as of isotope B, and after 24 minutes there are the same number of atoms of each isotope. How long does it take the number of atoms of isotope B to halve?

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