The half-life of a radioactive element is the time it takes for half of the radioactive substance to decay.
Given that the half-life of the radioactive element is 5 years, we can determine the fraction of the substance that remains after a certain number of years by using the concept of half-life decay.
After n half-lives, the fraction remaining can be calculated as (1/2)^n.
In this case, we want to calculate the fraction remaining after 20 years, which is equivalent to 20/5 = 4 half-lives.
Plugging in n = 4 into the equation, we get:
(1/2)^4 = 1/16
Therefore, after 20 years, the fraction of the radioactive substance that remains is 1/16.
So, the correct answer is 1/16.