You take a course in archaeology that includes field work. An ancient wooden totem pole is excavated from your archaeological dig. The beta decay rate is measured at 650 decays/min. If a sample from the totem pole contains 235 g of carbon and the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in living trees is 1.35×10−12, what is the age t of the pole in years? The molar mass of C14 is 18.035 g/mol. The half‑life of C14 is 5730 y. t = ? years

General Chemistry - Standalone book (MindTap Course List)
11th Edition
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
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 20.20QP
icon
Related questions
Question

You take a course in archaeology that includes field work. An ancient wooden totem pole is excavated from your archaeological dig. The beta decay rate is measured at 650 decays/min.

If a sample from the totem pole contains 235 g of carbon and the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in living trees is 1.35×10−12, what is the age t of the pole in years?

The molar mass of C14 is 18.035 g/mol. The half‑life of C14 is 5730 y.

t = ? years 

Expert Solution
trending now

Trending now

This is a popular solution!

steps

Step by step

Solved in 3 steps with 3 images

Blurred answer
Knowledge Booster
Dating Techniques
Learn more about
Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, chemistry and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.
Recommended textbooks for you
General Chemistry - Standalone book (MindTap Cour…
General Chemistry - Standalone book (MindTap Cour…
Chemistry
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:
Cengage Learning
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
ISBN:
9781133611097
Author:
Steven S. Zumdahl
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Chemistry
Chemistry
Chemistry
ISBN:
9781305957404
Author:
Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan A. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Chemistry: An Atoms First Approach
Chemistry: An Atoms First Approach
Chemistry
ISBN:
9781305079243
Author:
Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan A. Zumdahl
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Chemistry for Engineering Students
Chemistry for Engineering Students
Chemistry
ISBN:
9781337398909
Author:
Lawrence S. Brown, Tom Holme
Publisher:
Cengage Learning
Chemistry: Principles and Practice
Chemistry: Principles and Practice
Chemistry
ISBN:
9780534420123
Author:
Daniel L. Reger, Scott R. Goode, David W. Ball, Edward Mercer
Publisher:
Cengage Learning