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View Full Version : Can't figure this radioactive thing out


xGessx
Feb11-12, 04:13 PM
I can't figure this out , i've tried and tried but I was absent the day they explained this and I have no idea at all what decays/min is or any of that. I've solved 9 problems and I'm missing 4, and one of them is similar to this one that I will try to answer once you try explain this one to me.

Thank you very much!
1. The problem statement, all variables and given/known data
A 13.4756 g sample of petrified wood was found in a petrified forest. The sample showed a
C-14 activity of 11 decays/min.
How long has the tree been dead? The halflife of carbon-14 is 5730 years and freshly cut
wood contains 6.5 × 10^10 atoms/g of C-14 and there are 365.25 days in a year.
Answer in units of years.


2. Relevant equations
N=N0ek*t i think it's this? But I have no idea on how to use this


3. The attempt at a solution
I would try if I knew where to start lol

Borek
Feb13-12, 03:00 AM
What is N0? What is N? Do you see them in the question?