Chapter 39, Problem 59A

To determine

Whether the carbon dating is useful to estimate the age of the Dead sea Scroll.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

The radioactive material reduces to half of its initial amount in the half-life of the material. This property can be used to predict the age of radioactive material.

The carbon dating is the method of predicting the age of the material by the present amount of C-14 in the material. It is necessary for the material that it must be living thing.

The stone tablets in the Dead sea scroll does not contains the living carbon. So, the age of Dead sea scroll cannot be predicted.

Conclusion:

Thus, the technique of carbon dating does not work because the stone tablets was not the living in the past time.