Final answer:
The age of the wood can be estimated using radiocarbon dating, which involves measuring the carbon-14 activity in a sample of wood and comparing it to the activity in a living organism. However, without knowing the initial C-14 activity, we cannot calculate the age of the wood. The half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 5730 years.
Step-by-step explanation:
The age of the wood can be estimated using the concept of radiocarbon dating. Carbon-14 (C-14) is an isotope that is present in the atmosphere and is incorporated into living organisms. When an organism dies, the amount of C-14 it contains starts to decrease over time due to radioactive decay. By measuring the C-14 activity in a sample of wood and comparing it to the activity in a living organism, scientists can estimate its age.
In this case, we are given that the wood has a C-14 activity per gram of carbon (A) of 10 decay/min · g. However, we need to know the initial C-14 activity and the half-life of C-14 to calculate the age.
- We need to know the half-life of C-14, which is approximately 5730 years.
- We also need to know the initial C-14 activity, which is not provided in the question.
- Once we have the initial C-14 activity, we can use the formula:
age = (ln(A/A₀)) / k
Where A is the current activity, A₀ is the initial activity, and k is the decay constant (ln(2) / half-life).
Without knowing the initial C-14 activity, we cannot calculate the age of the wood.