Define radioactive dating, Physics

Assignment Help:

Define Radioactive Dating

Half-life measurements of radioactive elements in rocks and fossils can be used to determine the age of the specimen. One of the most common types of radioactive isotope dating uses carbon-14.

Carbon-14 is formed naturally in the atmosphere.  It decays through β-emission to form nitrogen-14.  The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years.

When plants perform photosynthesis they take in carbon dioxide and water to make sugar and oxygen.

6 CO2 + 6 H2O → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Some of the carbon dioxide the plant uses contains the isotope carbon-14.

When the plant dies or is harvested photosynthesis stops.  It can no longer absorb any carbon-14.  The decay of the isotope inside the dead plant continues a before.  We can determine the age of a once-living plant by measuring the remaining radioactivity due to carbon-14.

We used the equation before

AE = A0 * (1/2)t/t1/2

Let's rearrange a little so that this equation makes sense for our radioactive dating problem.

Eventually we want to know t, the elapsed time.  This will tell us the age of the dead plant.

t = ln (AE/A0) / ln (1/2). t½  
It is useful to note that the portion of the equation AE / A0 is just the fraction of the Carbon-14 remaining.

Although 5730 seems like a long time, it is actually pretty short in terms of half-lives.  For this reason, Carbon-14 dating is most useful for recent dating -- objects 50,000 years or younger.  Isotopes with a longer half-life are needed to date items that are older.


Related Discussions:- Define radioactive dating

Explain diode valve, Working: When plate potential (V p ) is positive, plat...

Working: When plate potential (V p ) is positive, plate current ( I p ) flows in the circuit (because some emitted electrons reach to plate). If +  V p enhances I p   also increas

What do some fiber change the color of light, What do some fiber change the...

What do some fiber change the color of light? Actually, all fibers change the color of the light in one technique or other. Because of the physical characteristics of the condu

What is the net displacement of the ball, A soccer ball is kicked from a 22...

A soccer ball is kicked from a 22-m-tall platform. It lands 15 m from the base of the platform. What is the net displacement of the ball?

Dry cell, what is absorber paper in a dry cell

what is absorber paper in a dry cell

Describe process for realization of plane polarized light, Briefly explain ...

Briefly explain how elliptically and circularly polarized light is generated. Describe the process for realization of plane polarized light from elliptically polarized light.

Landauers principle, Landauer's principle: A principle that states it ...

Landauer's principle: A principle that states it doesn't take energy to compute data explicitly, but rather it takes energy to erase any data, as erasure is a significant step

Write any three medical applications of laser, Q. Write any three medical a...

Q. Write any three medical applications of laser. Medical applications (i) In medicine micro surgery has befall possible due to narrow angular spread of the laser beam.

Inverse square law of magnetism, State 'Inverse square law of  magnetism'....

State 'Inverse square law of  magnetism'.  A. Coulomb's inverse law of magnetism states that, "The force of attraction or repulsion between two magnetic  poles is directly pro

Determine the angle at second order principal maximum, A plane diffraction ...

A plane diffraction grating of width 2.5cm has 1500 rulings. Monochromatic light of wave length 5893A 0 is incident normally on it. Determine the angle at which second order princ

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd