In 1991, German tourists discovered the well-preserved remains of a man, now called “Ötzi the Iceman,” trapped in a glacier in the Italian Alps. Radioactive dating with 14C revealed that this person was alive approximately 5 300 years ago. Why did scientists date a sample of Ötzi using 14C rather than 11C, which is a beta emitter having a half-life of 20.4 min?
Radioactive decay
The emission of energy to produce ionizing radiation is known as radioactive decay. Alpha, beta particles, and gamma rays are examples of ionizing radiation that could be released. Radioactive decay happens in radionuclides, which are imbalanced atoms. This periodic table's elements come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Several of these kinds are stable like nitrogen-14, hydrogen-2, and potassium-40, whereas others are not like uranium-238. In nature, one of the most stable phases of an element is usually the most prevalent. Every element, meanwhile, has an unstable state. Unstable variants are radioactive and release ionizing radiation. Certain elements, including uranium, have no stable forms and are constantly radioactive. Radionuclides are elements that release ionizing radiation.
Artificial Radioactivity
The radioactivity can be simply referred to as particle emission from nuclei due to the nuclear instability. There are different types of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Along with these there are different types of decay as well.
In 1991, German tourists discovered the well-preserved remains of a man, now called “Ötzi the Iceman,” trapped in a glacier in the Italian Alps. Radioactive dating with 14C revealed that this person was alive approximately 5 300 years ago. Why did scientists date a sample of Ötzi using 14C rather than 11C, which is a beta emitter having a half-life of 20.4 min?
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