Carbon-14 dating is a method for finding the age of an organic artifact from the quantity of 14C it contains. In the lab, it is relatively easy to measure the activity of a sample and to estimate the mass of carbon in the sample. An artifact is found in a desert cave. The anthropologists who found this artifact would like to know its age. With a couple of quick measurements, they find that the present activity of the artifact is 9.25 decays/s and that the mass of carbon in the artifact is 0.100 kg or about 5.02x1024 atoms. Assume that the fraction of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 in the atmosphere is 1.2 x10-12.. The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years or 1.81x1011 s. What is the age of the artifact? There are 3.154x107 s in a year. 5730 years 8268 years 7566 years 5219 years 259240 years

Carbon-14 dating is a method for finding the age of an organic artifact from the quantity of 14C it contains. In the lab, it is relatively easy to measure the activity of a sample and to estimate the mass of carbon in the sample. An artifact is found in a desert cave. The anthropologists who found this artifact would like to know its age. With a couple of quick measurements, they find that the present activity of the artifact is 9.25 decays/s and that the mass of carbon in the artifact is 0.100 kg or about 5.02x1024 atoms. Assume that the fraction of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 in the atmosphere is 1.2 x10-12.. The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years or 1.81x1011 s. What is the age of the artifact? There are 3.154x107 s in a year. 5730 years 8268 years 7566 years 5219 years 259240 years

Modern Physics

3rd Edition

ISBN:9781111794378

Author:Raymond A. Serway, Clement J. Moses, Curt A. Moyer

Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, Clement J. Moses, Curt A. Moyer

Chapter13: Nuclear Structure

Section: Chapter Questions

Problem 61P

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