Question

a hiker in africa discovers a skull that contains 51% of its original amount of C-14. Find the of the scull to the nearest year

Answer 1

To find the age of the skull, we can use the concept of carbon dating. The age of the skull is approximately 5730 years.

Step-by-step explanation:

To find the age of the skull, we can use the concept of carbon dating. Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope that decays over time. Its half-life is 5730 years, which means that after 5730 years, half of the carbon-14 in a sample will have decayed.

Since the skull contains 51% of its original amount of carbon-14, we can assume that it has gone through one half-life. To find the age, we can divide the half-life by the natural logarithm of 0.51 to get the decay constant, and then use this constant to calculate the age of the skull.

The age of the skull is approximately 5730 years.

Answer 2

We can calculate the age by using the formula: final amount=initial amount*(1/2)^(time/half-life), or t=ln(final amount/initial amount)/(-0.693)*half-life. The half life of C-14 is 5730 years, and final amount=initial amount is 51% or 0.51, so t=ln(0.51)/(-0.693)*5730=5567 years approximately.