Question 481947
How old is an artifact that contains 12.5 percent of its original carbon-14?
:
The generally accepted value for the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 yr
:
Let t = time for 12.5% of the artifact to remain
Let the initial amt = 1
:
1*2^(-t/5730) = .125
use nat logs
{{{-t/5730}}}ln(2) = ln(.125)
{{{-t/5730}}} = {{{ln(.125)/ln(2)}}}
{{{-t/5730}}} = -3
t = -3 * -5730
t = 17,190 yrs