Question

Suppose the femur bone of an animal has 1,000 atoms of carbon-14 when the animal dies. How many atoms of carbon 14 will be present after 6,000 years? (1 point)​

Answer 1

Answer:

After 6000 years, approximately 500 atoms of carbon-14 will be left in the femur bone of an animal which had 1000 atoms of carbon-14 when the animal died.

Explanation:

The half-life of a radioactive isotope of an element is the time taken for half the atoms present in a given amount of the element to undergo decay or disintegration. For example, the half-life of carbon-14 isotope is 5730 years. This means that, if there are 100 atoms of carbon-14 present in a given sample of a material, in the next 5730 years, approximately, 50 atoms of carbon-14 will be left in the material.

Since the half-life of radioactive isotopes are constant, these radioactive isotopes are used in the determining the ages of ancient life-forms as well as rocks.

In the given example, after 6000 years, approximately 500 atoms of carbon-14 will be left in the femur bone of an animal which had 1000 atoms of carbon-14 when the animal died.