Carbon-14 dating is a method for finding the age of an organic artifact from the quantity of 14C it contains. In the lab, it is relatively easy to measure the activity of a sample and to estimate the mass of carbon in the sample. An artifact is found in a desert cave. The anthropologists who found this artifact would like to know its age. With a couple of quick measurements, they find that the present activity of the artifact is 9.25 decays/s and that the mass of carbon in the artifact is 0.100 kg or about 5.02x1024 atoms. Assume that the fraction of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 in the atmosphere is 1.2 x10-12.. The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years or 1.81x1011 s. What is the age of the artifact? There are 3.154x107 s in a year. 5730 years 8268 years 7566 years 5219 years 259240 years

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carbon dating

### Part A

**Carbon-14 dating** is a method for finding the age of an organic artifact from the quantity of \( ^{14}C \) it contains. In the lab, it is relatively easy to measure the activity of a sample and to estimate the mass of carbon in the sample. An artifact is found in a desert cave. The anthropologists who found this artifact would like to know its age. With a couple of quick measurements, they find that the present activity of the artifact is 9.25 decays/s and that the mass of carbon in the artifact is 0.100 kg or about \( 5.02 \times 10^{24} \) atoms. 

Assume that the fraction of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 in the atmosphere is \( 1.2 \times 10^{-12} \). The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years or \( 1.81 \times 10^{11} \) s. What is the age of the artifact? There are \( 3.154 \times 10^7 \) seconds in a year.

**Options:**
- \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 5730 years
- \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 8268 years
- \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 7566 years
- \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 5219 years
- \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 259240 years

**[Submit]** **[Request Answer]**
Transcribed Image Text:### Part A **Carbon-14 dating** is a method for finding the age of an organic artifact from the quantity of \( ^{14}C \) it contains. In the lab, it is relatively easy to measure the activity of a sample and to estimate the mass of carbon in the sample. An artifact is found in a desert cave. The anthropologists who found this artifact would like to know its age. With a couple of quick measurements, they find that the present activity of the artifact is 9.25 decays/s and that the mass of carbon in the artifact is 0.100 kg or about \( 5.02 \times 10^{24} \) atoms. Assume that the fraction of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 in the atmosphere is \( 1.2 \times 10^{-12} \). The half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years or \( 1.81 \times 10^{11} \) s. What is the age of the artifact? There are \( 3.154 \times 10^7 \) seconds in a year. **Options:** - \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 5730 years - \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 8268 years - \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 7566 years - \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 5219 years - \( \quad \) \( \bullet \) 259240 years **[Submit]** **[Request Answer]**
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