Carbon-14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree that grew several centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 15% as much of the radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal? (The half-life of 14C is 5715 years.)

Algebra and Trigonometry (MindTap Course List)
4th Edition
ISBN:9781305071742
Author:James Stewart, Lothar Redlin, Saleem Watson
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Chapter4: Exponential And Logarithmic Functions
Section4.6: Modeling With Exponential Functions
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Carbon-14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree that grew several centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 15% as much of the radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal? (The half-life of 14C is 5715 years.)

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