- #1
StudentofPhysics
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1. An archeological specimen containing 8.7 g of carbon has an activity of 1.6 Bq. How old (in years) is the specimen?
2. Decay constant for Carbon= 0.693 / 5730 yr = 1.21 x 10^-4
1.6/8.7= 0.1839 activity per gram of C
0.23 is Activity of C at t=0
3. ln(0.1839/.23) = -(1.21x10^-4) t
t= 1848.65 years
This was wrong, the correct answer is 1910 years.
While I believe these numbers are somewhat close for carbon dating, I still got the answer wrong on the assignment which leads me to believe that I am doing something wrong.
Any thoughts?
2. Decay constant for Carbon= 0.693 / 5730 yr = 1.21 x 10^-4
1.6/8.7= 0.1839 activity per gram of C
0.23 is Activity of C at t=0
3. ln(0.1839/.23) = -(1.21x10^-4) t
t= 1848.65 years
This was wrong, the correct answer is 1910 years.
While I believe these numbers are somewhat close for carbon dating, I still got the answer wrong on the assignment which leads me to believe that I am doing something wrong.
Any thoughts?