Question

carbon-14 is used to date a palm fossil that originally contained 0.24 grams of carbon-14. The half life is 5700 years. If the fossil is found to be 17,000 years old, how much Carbon-14 does it contain now?

Answer 1

Exactly 0.03042 carbon-14 is remaining.

Roughly 0.03 Carbon-14 is remaining. (When/If Multiple Choice)

Step-by-step explanation:

Not a physics question, this is chemistry, but I'll answer.

First, divide 17,000/5700 to find the t, or time.

t = 2.98245614 or 2.98.

If it originally contained .24 grams, and a half life means x/2,

you would use the formula x/2^p, with p being the number of half lives

(these variables are made up, you can use any you would like)

In 17,000 years, the palm fossil experienced 2.98 half lives.

Thus meaning, using our equation, we would find (.24)/2^2.98

This equals 0.030418784 carbon-14 remaining to be exact.

(For Multiple Choice, it may be required to round to For Multiple Choice, it may be required to round to 3, so .24/2/2/2 or .24/2=.12 then .06 then it equals : .03 Carbon-14)