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Question: Anthropologists can estimate the age of a bone or other sample of organic matter by its carbon- 14 content

Here is full question:

Anthropologists can estimate the age of a bone or other sample of organic matter by its carbon- 14 content. The carbon- 14 in a living organism is constant until the organism dies, after which carbon-14 decays with first-order kinetics and a half-life of 5730 years. Suppose a bone from an ancient human contains 19.5% of the C-14 found in living organisms. How old is the bone?

Answer

When the organism dies, the source of C12 and C14 is no longer provided, the amount of C14 in the body will decrease because it is an unstable substance. C14 has a half-life of 5,730 years, which means that every 5,730 years the C14 is halved. Thus, deducing from the ratio of C12 and C14 in archeology we will calculate its age.

And here is answer

Relevent knowledge

The 1960 Nobel Prize in Chemistry went to Willard F. Libby (1908-1980) (pictured) for his research on radioactive carbon 14, used for dating in archeology, geology, geophysics… This research work began in 1950 when Willard F. Libby worked at the University of Chicago, officially recognized in 1955 and in 1960 it brought him the prestigious Nobel Prize.
Carbon (C) 14 is an isotope of Carbon 12. Chemically similar, however C14 is radioactive so it loses mass over time, while C12 remains stable. From there, the age can be calculated. For example, if an object has 100,000 atoms of C14 at first, after 5,730 years, there will only be 50,000 atoms left, another 5,730 years the number of C14 atoms will be 25,000… Therefore, just counting the remaining C14 is possible. calculate the age of the artifact.

Conclusion

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