| Definition: | for a decaying population of particles of the same kind, duration for the number of particles to decrease to 1/e of the initial value, where e is the base of natural logarithms NOTE 1 The mean life is the time constant for the decay of particles. NOTE 2 Only exponential decays are known. However, for a combination of different kinds of particles with different mean life, the decay is not exponential, and the resulting mean life varies with time.
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