In a piece of rock from the Moon, the Rb content is assayed to be 1.89×1010 atoms per gram of material and the 8/Sr content is found to be 1.08x10° atoms per gram. (The relevant decay is 87Rb → 87Sr + e¯. The half-life of the decay is 4.8 x 1010 yr.) (a) Determine the age of the rock. yr (b) Could the material in the rock actually be much older? O No, it could not be any older. O Yes, it could be much older. (c) What assumption is implicit in using the radioactive-dating method? We assume that none of the 87Sr nuclei came from the decay of 87Rb nuclei. O We assume that all of the 8/Sr nuclei came from the decay of 8/Rb nuclei. We assume that some of the 8/Sr nuclei came from the decay of 87Rb nuclei while the rest was present initially.

Modern Physics
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Author:Raymond A. Serway, Clement J. Moses, Curt A. Moyer
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Chapter13: Nuclear Structure
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 53P
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In a piece of rock from the Moon, the 8/Rb content is assayed to be 1.89×1010 atoms per gram of material and the 8/Sr content is found to
be 1.08x109 atoms per gram. (The relevant decay is
87Rb → 87Sr + e¯. The half-life of the decay is 4.8 x 10 yr.)
10
(a) Determine the age of the rock.
yr
(b) Could the material in the rock actually be much older?
No, it could not be any older.
Yes, it could be much older.
(c) What assumption is implicit in using the radioactive-dating method?
We assume that none of the 8/Sr nuclei came from the decay of 8/Rb nuclei.
We assume that all of the 8'Sr nuclei came from the decay of 8'Rb nuclei.
We assume that some of the 8Sr nuclei came from the decay of
87
Rb nuclei while the rest was present initially.
Transcribed Image Text:In a piece of rock from the Moon, the 8/Rb content is assayed to be 1.89×1010 atoms per gram of material and the 8/Sr content is found to be 1.08x109 atoms per gram. (The relevant decay is 87Rb → 87Sr + e¯. The half-life of the decay is 4.8 x 10 yr.) 10 (a) Determine the age of the rock. yr (b) Could the material in the rock actually be much older? No, it could not be any older. Yes, it could be much older. (c) What assumption is implicit in using the radioactive-dating method? We assume that none of the 8/Sr nuclei came from the decay of 8/Rb nuclei. We assume that all of the 8'Sr nuclei came from the decay of 8'Rb nuclei. We assume that some of the 8Sr nuclei came from the decay of 87 Rb nuclei while the rest was present initially.
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