Conceptual Physical Science (6th Edition)
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780134060491
Author: Paul G. Hewitt, John A. Suchocki, Leslie A. Hewitt
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 23, Problem 9RCQ
What are the half-lives of uranium-238, potassium-40, and carbon-14?
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A) How much mass is left in a piece of animal skin after 17,145 years when a newly made piece of leather about the same size contains approximately 5603g of C-14? The half-life of C-14 is 5,715 years.
B)How many years old is a piece of fossilized charcoal if the fossil contains 13.289g of C-14 when a new piece of charcoal of similar size contains 6803.9g? The half-life of C-14 is 5,715 years.
Approximately how old is a fossil that contains 1.5g of C14 and 198.5g of C12? Remember that C14 decays to C12 with a half life of 6,000 years.
The carbon content of living trees includes a small proportion of C-14, which is a radioactive isotope. After a tree dies, the proportion of C-14 in it decreases due to radioactive decay.Suggest why the method of carbon dating is likely to be unreliable if a sample is:a) < 200 years oldb) > 60,000 years old
Chapter 23 Solutions
Conceptual Physical Science (6th Edition)
Ch. 23 - Prob. 1RCQCh. 23 - What six principles are used in relative dating?...Ch. 23 - A granitic dike is found across a sandstone layer....Ch. 23 - Why dont all rock formations show a continuous...Ch. 23 - How are fossils used in determining geologic time?Ch. 23 - In a sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the...Ch. 23 - Prob. 7RCQCh. 23 - What is radioactive half-life?Ch. 23 - What are the half-lives of uranium-238,...Ch. 23 - Prob. 10RCQ
Ch. 23 - Prob. 11RCQCh. 23 - Which of the geologic time units spans the...Ch. 23 - Prob. 13RCQCh. 23 - What key developments in life occurred during...Ch. 23 - What evidence do we have of Precambrian life?Ch. 23 - The Paleozoic era experienced several fluctuations...Ch. 23 - Prob. 17RCQCh. 23 - Prob. 18RCQCh. 23 - What life forms are associated with the Devonian...Ch. 23 - Why are internal nostrils in the lobe-finned...Ch. 23 - Why do many geologists consider the lobe-finned...Ch. 23 - During what time period were most coal deposits...Ch. 23 - In what area of the United States do we find rich...Ch. 23 - What group evolved from the amphibians with the...Ch. 23 - Prob. 25RCQCh. 23 - What is the most likely cause of the Cretaceous...Ch. 23 - What effect did the breakup of Pangaea have on sea...Ch. 23 - How is the element iridium related to the time of...Ch. 23 - Which epochs make up the Tertiary period? The...Ch. 23 - What important life forms evolved during the...Ch. 23 - Refer to the accompanying figure. Using the...Ch. 23 - On a cross section, a dark wavy line is used to...Ch. 23 - If fine muds were laid down at a rate of 1 cm/1000...Ch. 23 - With the formation of Pangaea, disconnected...Ch. 23 - The decay of radioactive elements to stable...Ch. 23 - Going from oldest to youngest, rank these life...Ch. 23 - The geologic time scale is subdivided into eons,...Ch. 23 - Prob. 38TARCh. 23 - Throughout geologic time there have been several...Ch. 23 - Throughout geologic time there have been many...Ch. 23 - The Cenozoic is known for many tectonic events. In...Ch. 23 - Each period of the Paleozoic saw marked changes in...Ch. 23 - Prob. 43TARCh. 23 - If a sedimentary rock contains inclusions of...Ch. 23 - Granitic pebbles within a sedimentary rock have a...Ch. 23 - Two isolated rock outcrops share a few similar...Ch. 23 - Suppose that in an undeformed sequence of rocks,...Ch. 23 - In a sequence of sedimentary rock layers, the...Ch. 23 - What is the difference between a nonconformity and...Ch. 23 - Prob. 50ECh. 23 - What general assumption must be made to understand...Ch. 23 - Suppose you see a sequence of sedimentary rock...Ch. 23 - In dating a mineral, what is meant by resetting...Ch. 23 - A radiometric date is determined from mica that...Ch. 23 - If we divide a number by 2, and then divide the...Ch. 23 - Which isotopes are most appropriate for dating...Ch. 23 - Has the amount of uranium in Earth increased over...Ch. 23 - Before the discovery of radioactivity, how did...Ch. 23 - In the geologic time scale, which time division...Ch. 23 - What is the basis for the division of the geologic...Ch. 23 - What factors are believed to have contributed to...Ch. 23 - Prob. 62ECh. 23 - Prob. 63ECh. 23 - How did the Precambrian atmosphere become...Ch. 23 - Why is it difficult to find fossils in Precambrian...Ch. 23 - What are strematolites, and what is their...Ch. 23 - Prob. 67ECh. 23 - Prob. 68ECh. 23 - Prob. 69ECh. 23 - Prob. 70ECh. 23 - Prob. 71ECh. 23 - Coal beds form from the accumulation of plant...Ch. 23 - Prob. 73ECh. 23 - What can cause a rise in sea level? Is this likely...Ch. 23 - What are some potential worldwide consequences...Ch. 23 - What is the significance of an amniote egg?Ch. 23 - Prob. 77ECh. 23 - What effect did the breakup of Pangaea have on...Ch. 23 - Was there a time when dinosaurs and humans...Ch. 23 - Prob. 80ECh. 23 - Prob. 81ECh. 23 - How does basaltic lava in a rift zone separate two...Ch. 23 - Prob. 83ECh. 23 - What is the Anthropocene epoch?Ch. 23 - Prob. 85ECh. 23 - Prob. 86ECh. 23 - What event allowed the evolution of many mammals...Ch. 23 - Prob. 88ECh. 23 - Prob. 89ECh. 23 - Prob. 90ECh. 23 - Prob. 91ECh. 23 - Prob. 92ECh. 23 - How old are the oldest rocks on Earth? About how...Ch. 23 - During Earth's long history, life has emerged and...Ch. 23 - Prob. 95ECh. 23 - Prob. 96ECh. 23 - Prob. 97DQCh. 23 - How have modern humans affected geologic...Ch. 23 - Prob. 99DQCh. 23 - Prob. 100DQCh. 23 - The principle of superposition is that each new...Ch. 23 - Life forms throughout Earths past have emerged in...Ch. 23 - The time it takes for 50% of a radioactive...Ch. 23 - Development of Earths oceans was probably due to...Ch. 23 - Prob. 5RATCh. 23 - The Paleozoic experienced several fluctuations in...Ch. 23 - The most important event during the Cambrian...Ch. 23 - The formation of the supercontinent of Pangaea (a)...Ch. 23 - Prob. 9RATCh. 23 - The creation of the San Andreas Fault corresponded...
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- You want to use radiometric dating to determine the age of a specimen. You use Isotope Z, which has a half-life of 645 years. You measure your sample and find that 1/16 of the original amount of Isotope Z is present. How old is the sample?arrow_forwardWhat is the main reason to use C14 in age determination?arrow_forwardPotassium (40K) decays to Argon (40Ar) with a half-life value of 1.3 billion years. 40K is the parent isotope and 40Ar is the daughter isotope. Laboratory analysis of a rock sample showed that there are 0.13ppm of 40K and an equal amount of 40Ar in the rock. (ppm: parts per million) Based on the laboratory results, ________________ half-live(s) have elapsed and the age of the rock is __________. Select from the following and explain. A. 0; 0 years B. 3; 4.5 billion years C. 1; 1.3 billion years D. 13; 6 billion years E. 13; 1.0 billion yearsarrow_forward
- A layer of peat beneath the glacial sediments of the last ice age has a carbon-14/carbon-12 ratio that is 21.2% of that found in living organisms. How long ago was this ice age?arrow_forwardThe half-life of Carbon-13 is 5750 years. Samples taken at an excavation site show that a one-kilogram sample has 65% Carbon-13 as compared to a normal sample. What is the age of the sample?arrow_forwardExplain the process of radiocarbondating.arrow_forward
- Each time you dumped the pennies, one half-life passed; it has been shown that thehalf-life for this radioactive isotope is 20 years. In the year 2000, an archaeology teamunearths pottery and is using this isotope for radiometric dating to place the age of thepottery. It is shown that 95% of the nuclei have decayed. Using your graph,approximately how long ago was the pottery made?arrow_forwardWhat is carbon-14 dating?arrow_forwardIf the half-life of a radioactive specimen is 100 years, then how long will it take for the specimen to reach 25% of its original amount? (24.3) (a) 25 years (b) 50 years (c) 100 years (d) 200 yearsarrow_forward
- Uranium-238 (U-238) has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Geologists find a rock containing a mixture of U-238 and lead, and determine that 82% of the original U-238 remains; the other 18% has decayed into lead. How old is the rock? a.) The rock is _______ billion years old.arrow_forwardExplain how "carbon dating" is used to establish the age of once living things.arrow_forwardMeihui is at NASA analyzing Moon rocks. In one of the rocks from the lunar highlands, he discovered 49 % of the original uranium-238 remains, while remaining amount of uranium-238 had decayed into lead. The half life of uranium-238 is 4.5 × 109 years. Assume the only decay product is lead. How old is the lunar maria rock in billions of years (109 years)?arrow_forward
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