Carbon-14 Dating

Nuclear Physics Jeremy LoW Phillip Chun Alex Tam Carbon 14 dating

Our Aim To simulate the use of carbon-14 in determining the approximate age of organic material.

Background 411 The process of carbon-dating only works on dead organic material (like fossils) Due to the fact that if an object is still alive, it would still be absorbing carbon14 The carbon-14 isotope works best for this process It has a half-life of 5730 years, allowing it to determine the age of an object up to about 60,000 years old It has a half-life of 5730 years, allowing

Above is a simple data table showing the decay of carbon-14 

As can be seen, after about 5700 (5730 to be exact) years the amount of carbon-14 atoms is halved, thus showing that 5730 years is the half-life 

The process of carbon-14 is quite inaccurate,

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Above is a simple data table showing the decay of carbon-14 As can be seen, after about 5700 (5730 to be exact) years the amount of carbon-14 atoms is halved, thus showing that 5730 years is the half-life The process of carbon-14 is quite

A formula to calculate how old a sample is by carbon-14 dating is: t = [ln (Nf/No) / (-0.693)] x t1/2 (Nf/No) is the ratio of carbon-14 in the sample compared to the amount in living tissue The number (-0.693) is a constant t1/2 is the half life of carbon-14 (5730 years) This formula can actually be used for any type of radioactive dating Other useful radioisotopes are Uranium235, Uranium-238, Thorium-232, and

KING TUT A real example where carbon 14 dating has been used to determine the age of an object is with King Tut’scoffin. To determine the age of the coffin scientists must find out the percent of carbon-14 in the coffin compared to the amount in living tissue. They could then use the formula: t = [ln (Nf/No) / (-0.693)] x t1/2 Nf/No is the ratio of carbon-14 in the sample compared to the amount in living tissue, -0.693 is a constant, and t1/2 is the half life of carbon-14, which is 5730 years. In the case of King Tut, the (Nf/No) value is 0.668846, and the value for t1/2 is 5730 years,the half-life of years, carbon-14. Plugging these values into the equation it would turn out as: t = [ln (0.668846) / (-0.693)] x 5730 Now, solving the equation is possible, and the answer would

Sources

http://science.howstuffworks.com/carbon-141

http://physlink.com/Education/askexperts/ae4

http://www.ridgecrest.ca.us/~do_while/sage/v