The half-life of Carbon-14 is approximately 5,600 years.Using this information scientists have been able to determine the age of some artifacts left by humans.Suppose that a scientist wanted 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 22,400 years old,how much Carbon-14 originally existed in this piece of wood?

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5,600 years. This means that after 5,600 years, half of the Carbon-14 in a sample will have decayed. After another 5,600 years, half of the remaining Carbon-14 will have decayed, and so on.If a sample of wood contains 2 grams of Carbon-14 and is 22,400 years old, then the original amount of Carbon-14 in the sample can be calculated as follows:2 grams / (1/2)^(22,400 / 5,600) = 32 gramsTherefore, the correct answer is A) 32 grams.

The Half-Life of Carbon-14 Is Approximately 5,600 Years