Carbon 14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, then the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree that grew several centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 17% as much radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal, assuming that the half-life of 14C is 5715 years? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.) yr

Chemistry & Chemical Reactivity
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Author:John C. Kotz, Paul M. Treichel, John Townsend, David Treichel
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Chapter25: Nuclear Chemistry
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Carbon 14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, then the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree that grew several
centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 17% as much radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How
long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal, assuming that the half-life of 14C is 5715 years? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.)
yr
Transcribed Image Text:Carbon 14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, then the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree that grew several centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14C absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 17% as much radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal, assuming that the half-life of 14C is 5715 years? (Round your answer to the nearest whole number.) yr
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