An engineering student purchased piece of amber from a local shopping mall. The amber contained the remains of an beetle. Curious to know whether the gem is genuine or not, the student takes the sample to the laboratory and determines the concentration of Carbon-14 (λ = 5730 years). After extracting a piece of the trapped beetle with a fine drill, instrument analysis reported that the concentration of Carbon-14 is now only 94%. If there was 100% Carbon-14 when the beetle was trapped, how old is the gem and is it genuine?

General Chemistry - Standalone book (MindTap Course List)
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ISBN:9781305580343
Author:Steven D. Gammon, Ebbing, Darrell Ebbing, Steven D., Darrell; Gammon, Darrell Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon, Darrell D.; Gammon, Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon; Darrell
Publisher:Steven D. Gammon, Ebbing, Darrell Ebbing, Steven D., Darrell; Gammon, Darrell Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon, Darrell D.; Gammon, Ebbing; Steven D. Gammon; Darrell
Chapter20: Nuclear Chemistry
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An engineering student purchased piece of amber from a local shopping mall. The amber contained the remains of an beetle. Curious to know whether the gem is genuine or not, the student takes the sample to the laboratory and determines the concentration of Carbon-14 (λ = 5730 years). After extracting a piece of the trapped beetle with a fine drill, instrument analysis reported that the concentration of Carbon-14 is now only 94%. If there was 100% Carbon-14 when the beetle was trapped, how old is the gem and is it genuine?

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