carbon-14 has a half-life of approximately 5,700 years. a fossil shell contain 25% of the original amount of its carbon-14. approximately how many years ago was this shell part of a living oranism?

Respuesta :

The half-life equation [tex]m=m_{0} (\frac{1}{2})^n[/tex] in which n is equal to the number of half-lives that have passed can be altered to solve for n.

[tex]n = \frac{log(\frac{m}{m_{0}} )}{log(\frac{1}{2})}[/tex]

[tex]\frac{log(\frac{.25}{1} )}{log(\frac{1}{2})} = 2[/tex]

Then, the number of half-lives that passed can be multiplied by the length of a half-life to find the total time.

2 * 5700 =  11400 yr

11400 years  ago was this shell part of a living oranism.

How do you calculate the age of a fossil using half life?

  • You need to increase the number of half-lives by the number of years in a half-life after you know how many half-lives have elapsed for your fossil.
  • Your age is now 2 x 5730 = 11,460 years.
  • Your fossil is that of a living thing that perished 11,460 years ago possibly a human.

How do you determine how old a fossil is?

  • By contrasting a fossil with related rocks and fossils of known ages, relative dating is performed to determine the approximate age of the fossil.
  • By measuring the decay of isotopes within the fossil or, more frequently, the rocks associated with it, radiometric dating is used to estimate an exact age of a fossil.

How can carbon-14 be used to determine the age of fossils?

  • Enter 92 in the first row as the amount of carbon-14 that is still present in the sample.
  • The carbon 14 half-life is 5,730 years.
  • The end result is the calculated time elapsed, which is 689 years in the third row, and the sample age, which is 690 (+/-5) years.

According to the question:

To find n, one can modify the half-life equation [tex]m = m_{0} (\frac{1}{2}) ^{2}[/tex], where n represents the number of half-lives that have already passed.

[tex]n = \frac{log\frac {m}{m_{0} } }{log\frac{1}{2} }[/tex]

[tex]2 = \frac{log(\frac {25}{_{1} }) }{log(\frac{1}{2}) }[/tex]

The total time can then be calculated by multiplying the number of half-lives by the average half-life.

= 2×5700.

= 11,400 years.

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