Carbon-4 is an isotope of carbon thát is formed when radiation from the sun strikes ordinary carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants such as trees, which get their carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, therefore contain a small amount of carbon-14. Once a particular part of a plant has been formed, no more new carbon 14 is taken in. The carbon 14 in that part of the plant decays slowly. Let P be the percent of carbon-14 remaining in a part of a tree that grew t years ago (so t years ago, there was 100 percent of the carbon-14 existing in that part of the tree). a.) Write the particular equation expressing P in terms of t. You may assume that the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. A piece of wood some believe to have come from Noah's Ark has 47.93% of its carbon-14 remaining. The Great Flood was supposed to have occurred in 4004 B.C. Is this piece of b.) wood old enouah to have come from Noah's Ark? Iustify vour answer

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Chapter29: Nuclear Physics
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Problem 55AP
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Carbon-14 is an isotope of carbon that is formed when radiation from the sun strikes
ordinary carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants such as trees, which get their carbon
dioxide from the atmosphere, therefore contain a small amount of carbon-14. Once a
particular part of a plant has been formed, no more new carbon 14 is taken in. The carbon
14 in that part of the plant decays slowly.
Let P be the percent of carbon-14 remaining in a part of a tree that grew t years ago (so t
years ago, there was 100 percent of the carbon-14 existing in that part of the tree).
Write the particular equation expressing P in terms of t. You may assume that the half-life
of carbon-14 is 5730 years.
a.)
A piece of wood some believe to have come from Noah's Ark has 47.93% of its carbon-14
remaining. The Great Flood was supposed to have occurred in 4004 B.C. Is this piece of
wood old enough to have come from Noah's Ark? Justify your answer.
b.)
Transcribed Image Text:Carbon-14 is an isotope of carbon that is formed when radiation from the sun strikes ordinary carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. Plants such as trees, which get their carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, therefore contain a small amount of carbon-14. Once a particular part of a plant has been formed, no more new carbon 14 is taken in. The carbon 14 in that part of the plant decays slowly. Let P be the percent of carbon-14 remaining in a part of a tree that grew t years ago (so t years ago, there was 100 percent of the carbon-14 existing in that part of the tree). Write the particular equation expressing P in terms of t. You may assume that the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. a.) A piece of wood some believe to have come from Noah's Ark has 47.93% of its carbon-14 remaining. The Great Flood was supposed to have occurred in 4004 B.C. Is this piece of wood old enough to have come from Noah's Ark? Justify your answer. b.)
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