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A fossil is found that contains 3 g of radioactive Carbon-14 and 45 g of decayed element.  Approximately how many years old is the fossil?  (the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years) a5730 b11460 c17190 d22920 e28650

Question

A fossil is found that contains 3 g of radioactive Carbon-14 and 45 g of decayed element.  Approximately how many years old is the fossil?  (the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years) a5730 b11460 c17190 d22920 e28650

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Solution

To solve this problem, we need to understand the concept of half-life. The half-life of a radioactive substance is the time it takes for half of the atoms in a sample to decay. In this case, the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years.

Step 1: Calculate the total amount of Carbon-14 that was originally present. This is the sum of the remaining Carbon-14 and the decayed element, which is 3g + 45g = 48g.

Step 2: Determine how many half-lives have passed. Each half-life reduces the amount of Carbon-14 by half. So, we start with 48g and see how many times we need to halve this amount to get to the remaining 3g of Carbon-14.

48g -> 24g -> 12g -> 6g -> 3g

This is 4 half-lives.

Step 3: Multiply the number of half-lives by the length of each half-life to find the total time that has passed.

4 half-lives * 5730 years/half-life = 22920 years

So, the fossil is approximately 22920 years old. The answer is d22920.

This problem has been solved

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