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ConcealedDreamer
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The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. If a sample had 26 g of carbon-14, how much would it contain after 22,920 years (x 4)?
Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of the element carbon, with an atomic mass of 14. It is formed in the upper atmosphere when cosmic rays interact with nitrogen atoms, and is constantly produced in small amounts.
Carbon-14 is used in radiocarbon dating, a method used to determine the age of organic materials. As living organisms absorb carbon from the atmosphere, they also absorb a small amount of Carbon-14. When an organism dies, it stops absorbing Carbon-14 and the amount present in its tissues begins to decay at a predictable rate. By measuring the remaining amount of Carbon-14 in a sample, scientists can determine how long ago the organism died.
The half-life of Carbon-14 is approximately 5,730 years. This means that after 5,730 years, half of the initial amount of Carbon-14 in a sample will have decayed into nitrogen. After another 5,730 years, half of the remaining Carbon-14 will have decayed, and so on.
No, Carbon-14 dating can only be used on organic materials. Inorganic materials, such as rocks and minerals, do not contain Carbon-14 and therefore cannot be dated using this method.
Carbon-14 dating is considered reliable because the rate of decay of Carbon-14 is constant and well understood. Additionally, scientists can use other methods, such as tree-ring dating, to cross-check and verify the accuracy of Carbon-14 dating results.