An archaeologist finds only one eighth of the cells found in living plants in a carved piece of wood. How old is the piece? (half-life period of C14 = 5200yrs) [olympiad ques]
Asked by sumandeesinghrana
| 9th Oct, 2010,
09:59: AM
Expert Answer:
Dear Student,
This is an exponential decay problem:
Where,
Given half life = 5200 yrs
Thus, decay constant λ = ln(2) / 5200 = 1.3 x 10-4 (year-1)
Nt = N0/8
Therefore, N0/8 = N0 e-λt
ln (1/8) = -λ t
t = ln (8) / λ = 1.599 x 104 years !
Hope that satisfies your query.
Team
TopperLearning


Answered by
| 9th Oct, 2010,
06:53: PM
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