Subjects
| Sections | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Radioactive Decay | 42 mins | 0 completed | Learn |
| Band of Stability | 22 mins | 0 completed | Learn |
| Magic Numbers | 10 mins | 0 completed | Learn |
| First Order Half Life | 19 mins | 0 completed | Learn |
| Additional Practice |
|---|
| Alpha Decay |
| Beta Decay |
| Gamma Emission |
| Electron Capture |
| Positron Emission |
| Nuclear Fission |
| Mass Defect |
| Nuclear Fusion |
| Nuclear Transmutation |
A wooden boat discovered just south of the Great Pyramid in Egypt has a carbon-14/carbon-12 ratio that is 73.0% of that found in living organisms.
How old is the boat?
We’re being asked to determine the age of a boat that has a carbon-14/carbon 12 ratio that is 73.0% found in living organisms.
Radiocarbon (carbon 14) is an isotope of the element carbon that is unstable and weakly radioactive. The stable isotopes are carbon 12 and carbon 13.
Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14 from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes. When they die, they stop exchanging carbon with the biosphere and their carbon 14 content then starts to decrease at a rate determined by the law of radioactive decay.
Radiocarbon dating is essentially a method designed to measure residual radioactivity.
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