Question

A corpse with flesh intact, found in the Alps in 1991, was dated by the carbon-14 method and showed a parent-daughter isotope ratio of approximately 1:1, with slightly more parent material than daughter material. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. Which of the following statements is TRUE?

A. Since the body was still organic and had not been petrified, it was inappropriate to use the carbon-14 process.
B. The age could logically be 6,730 years.
C. The age could logically be 5,300 years.
D. The age could logically be 6,000 years.

Answer 1

C. The age could logically be 5,300 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

"One half-life after a radioactive isotope is incorporated into a rock there will be only half of the original radioactive parent atoms remaining and an equal number of daughter atoms will have been produced." The ratio of parent to daughter after one half-life will be 1:1. After two half-lives, half of the remaining half will decay, leaving one-quarter of the original radioactive parent atoms. Those transformed atoms bring the tally of daughter atoms to three-quarters of the crop of parent plus daughter atoms. The ratio of parent to daughter atoms after two half-lives is therefore 1:3 (one-quarter to three-quarters)".

A ratio 1:1 leads to 5300 years, the closest option to half-life to the carbon-14.

Reference: Columbia University. “Absolute Geologic Time.” Absolute Geologic Time, 2019