A humanoid skeleton is found buried in the ashes of a volcano that erupted between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. when scientists use absolute dating techniques to obtain an age of the fossil, approximately how much carbon-14 isotope will remain?

Question

Aleah Norris

Physics

26 December, 20:58

A humanoid skeleton is found buried in the ashes of a volcano that erupted between 10,000 and 12,000 years ago. when scientists use absolute dating techniques to obtain an age of the fossil, approximately how much carbon-14 isotope will remain?

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Melina Quinn · Answer 1

From reliable sources in the internet, the half-live of carbon-14 is given to be 5,730 years. In a span of 10,000 to 12,000 years, there are almost or little more than 2 half-lives. Thus, there should be

A (t) = A (0) (1/2) ^t

where t is the number of half-lives, in this case 2. Thus, only about 1/4 of the original amount will be left.