What is the half-life of Iodine-125?

Iodine-125 has a half-life of approximately 60 days. The half-life refers to the time it takes for half of a radioactive substance to decay. In the case of Iodine-125, this relatively short half-life makes it particularly useful in medical applications, especially in the field of nuclear medicine for diagnostic imaging and cancer treatment.

The half-life is crucial for determining how long a given amount of Iodine-125 will remain active and how frequently patients may need to undergo procedures involving the isotope. Additionally, its half-life allows clinicians to plan for both the therapeutic timing and the management of any radioactive waste produced from its use.

In contrast, the other options represent the half-lives of different isotopes or are incorrect for Iodine-125. For instance, 12.3 years corresponds to the half-life of Iodine-131, which is another isotope of iodine used in medical applications but serves different treatments and has different decaying characteristics. A half-life of 5700 years is characteristic of isotopes like Carbon-14, while 14.3 days is too short for Iodine-125, as it does not accurately reflect its decay rate. Thus, the correct choice of 60 days reflects