A fossilized leaf contains 24% of its normal amount of carbon 14. how old is the fossil (to the nearest year)? use 5600 years as

Question

Pavlova-9 [17]

4 years ago

10

A fossilized leaf contains 24% of its normal amount of carbon 14. how old is the fossil (to the nearest year)? use 5600 years as

the half-life of carbon 14.

Chemistry

1 answer:

sergij07 [2.7K] · Answer 1 · 2021-11-17T22:14:59+03:00

The Half life is the time taken for a radioisotope or a radioactive substance to decay by half its original amount. The half life of carbon 14 is 5600 years.
Original mass is 100%
Remaining amount is 24%
Therefore; 0.24 = 1 × (1/2)^n
n = log 0.24/log 0.5
= 2.06
therefore, the age of the fossil is 5600×2.06
= 11529.8
≈ 11529 years