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Half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. A piece of wood that contained 0.200g of Carbon-14 when it was alive now contains 0.0125g of Carbon-14. How old is the piece of wood? 5730 years old 11460 years old 17190 years old 22920 years old?

Answer 1

Daniel Allen

22920

#(1/2)^(t/5730)(I)=A#

I stands for initial, A for current, and t for years.

Using I=0.200g and A= 0.0125g, find t.

#(1/2)^(t/5730)(0.200)=0.0125#

#(1/2)^(t/5730)=0.625#

#log_(1/2)((1/2)^(t/5730))=log_(1/2)0.0625#

#t/5730=4#

#t=22920#

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Answer 2

Piper Anderson

The piece of wood is approximately 11460 years old.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.