Monique, an archaeologist from UWC finds an ancient wooden axe handle at an excavation site at Onderstepoort. She wants to determine the age of the axe handle. She takes a small sample of carbon from the axe handle and places it near a Geiger counter. The counter reads 20 counts/minute. She then takes the same mass of carbon from a living tree and finds that it has a count-rate of 40 counts/minute. a) How old is the axe handle? (assume the half-life of C-14 is about 6000 years) - choose answer below b) Explain your reasoning in 'Rationale'
Radioactive decay
The emission of energy to produce ionizing radiation is known as radioactive decay. Alpha, beta particles, and gamma rays are examples of ionizing radiation that could be released. Radioactive decay happens in radionuclides, which are imbalanced atoms. This periodic table's elements come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Several of these kinds are stable like nitrogen-14, hydrogen-2, and potassium-40, whereas others are not like uranium-238. In nature, one of the most stable phases of an element is usually the most prevalent. Every element, meanwhile, has an unstable state. Unstable variants are radioactive and release ionizing radiation. Certain elements, including uranium, have no stable forms and are constantly radioactive. Radionuclides are elements that release ionizing radiation.
Artificial Radioactivity
The radioactivity can be simply referred to as particle emission from nuclei due to the nuclear instability. There are different types of radiation such as alpha, beta and gamma radiation. Along with these there are different types of decay as well.
Monique, an archaeologist from UWC finds an ancient wooden axe handle at an excavation site at Onderstepoort. She wants to determine the age of the axe handle. She takes a small sample of carbon from the axe handle and places it near a Geiger counter. The counter reads 20 counts/minute. She then takes the same mass of carbon from a living tree and finds that it has a count-rate of 40 counts/minute. a) How old is the axe handle? (assume the half-life of C-14 is about 6000 years) - choose answer below b) Explain your reasoning in 'Rationale'
Step by step
Solved in 2 steps with 3 images
