SOLUTION: The isotope known as carbon-14 is radioactive and will decay into the stable form nitrogen-14. As long as an organism is alive, it ingests air, and the level of carbon-14 in the or
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Question 1168494: The isotope known as carbon-14 is radioactive and will decay into the stable form nitrogen-14. As long as an organism is alive, it ingests air, and the level of carbon-14 in the organism remains the same. When it dies, it no longer absorbs carbon-14 from the air, and the carbon-14 in the organism decays.
The half-life of carbon-14 is 5770 years. Assume an organic sample is 13,000 years old.
Determine how many half-lives are in 13,000 years. Then use this answer to determine what percentage of the original amount of carbon-14 remains after 13,000 years. Round your answer as a percentage to the nearest whole number. Answer by ikleyn(52835) (Show Source):
The number of half-lives of the carbon-14 in 13000 years is this fraction/(ratio)
= 2.253.
So, there are 2.253 half-life periods in 13000 years.
The fraction of the original carbon-14 amount remaining after 13000 years is
f = = = 0.210 (rounded).
Or, expressed as a percentage, 21%.
