Question

The cloth shroud from around a mummy is found to have a 14C activity of 8.4 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon as compared with living organisms that undergo 15.2 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon.From the half-life for 14C decay, 5715 yr, calculate the age of the shroud

Answer 1

48889 years

Step-by-step explanation:

Activity of the living sample Ao= 15.2 disintegration per minute

Activity of the cloth A= 8.4 disintegration per minute

Half life of 14C= 5715 years

Time taken for the decay t= the unknown

From;

0.693/5715 = 2.303/t log (15.2/8.4)

1.213 × 10^-4 = 2.303/t log (1.8095)

1.213 × 10^-4 = 0.593/t

t= 0.593/1.213 × 10^-4

t= 4888.7 years

t= 48889 years