The half-life of Carbon-14 is approximately 5,700 years.Using this information scientists have been able to determine the age of some artifacts left by humans.A scientist wants to know approximately how old a piece of wood was that she found on the floor in an old cave that had recently been discovered.She removed the wood (with permission)to her laboratory.Her wood sample contained 2 grams of Carbon-14.If the age of the wood was determined to be 22,800 years old,how much Carbon-14 originally existed in this piece of wood?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5,700 years. This means that after 5,700 years, half of the Carbon-14 in a sample will have decayed. After another 5,700 years, half of the remaining Carbon-14 will have decayed, and so on.The scientist found that her wood sample contained 2 grams of Carbon-14. She determined that the age of the wood was 22,800 years old. This means that the wood originally contained 32 grams of Carbon-14 (2 grams x 2^4 = 32 grams).

The Half-Life of Carbon-14 Is Approximately 5,700 Years