Griffin was walking to school one day and found a old bone. He took it to a scientist friend of his, and after studying the bone, she determined it was approximately 24,000 years old. She also told him that the current amount of carbon-14 in the bone was 5,000 atoms. How many atoms must the bone have had originaly, assuming that the half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 6,000 years.

Question

Chemistry

Julissa

3 November, 15:58

Griffin was walking to school one day and found a old bone. He took it to a scientist friend of his, and after studying the bone, she determined it was approximately 24,000 years old. She also told him that the current amount of carbon-14 in the bone was 5,000 atoms. How many atoms must the bone have had originaly, assuming that the half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 6,000 years.

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Imani Solomon · Answer 1

This problem is easily solvable because radioactivity equations are common and well-established. The pseudo-first reaction is written below:

A = A₀ (1/2) ^ (t/h)

where

A is the final amount

A₀ is the original amount

t is the time

h is the half life

5,000 = A₀ (1/2) ^ (24,000/6,000)

Solving for A₀,

A₀ = 80,000 atoms