Problem 21.41 The cloth shroud from around a mummy is found to have a 14C activi

Question

Problem 21.41

The cloth shroud from around a mummy is found to have a 14C activity of 8.4 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon as compared with living organisms that undergo 16.3 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon.

Part A

From the half-life for 14C decay, 5715 yr, calculate the age of the shroud.

Express your answer using two significant figures.

Problem 21.41

The cloth shroud from around a mummy is found to have a 14C activity of 8.4 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon as compared with living organisms that undergo 16.3 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon.

Part A

From the half-life for 14C decay, 5715 yr, calculate the age of the shroud.

Express your answer using two significant figures.

Explanation / Answer

N = n0 e^(-K T)

half life formula
K = 0.693 / 5715 = 0.000121286

From the question:

8.4 = 16.3e^(-KT)
ln(0.5153) / K = T = 5464.87 years.

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