if a egyptian mummy has 61% carbon-14 how long ago was it buried?
Take a 100 g initial sample. Now there are 61 g C-14.
Use ln(No/N) = kt
where No = 100
N = 61
You will need k and you may obtain that from k = 0.693/t1/2.
Look up t1/2 and substitute in that equation to find k, then substitute k in the first equation I listed. Post your work if you get stuck.
To determine how long ago the Egyptian mummy was buried based on the percentage of carbon-14 remaining, you can follow these steps:
1. Take a 100g initial sample of the mummy.
2. Calculate the remaining amount of carbon-14 by multiplying the initial sample (100g) by the percentage of carbon-14 (61%): 100g * 0.61 = 61g.
3. The decay of carbon-14 follows an exponential decay equation, which is ln(No/N) = kt, where No is the initial amount, N is the remaining amount, k is the decay constant, and t is the time interval in years.
4. To find the decay constant (k), you can use the half-life (t1/2) of carbon-14. The half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of the carbon-14 to decay. You can find the value of k using the equation: k = 0.693/t1/2.
5. Look up the value of the half-life of carbon-14, which is approximately 5730 years.
6. Substitute the value of the half-life into the equation k = 0.693/5730, and calculate the value of k. It should be approximately 0.00012097.
7. Now you have the value of k, substitute the known values into the first equation: ln(No/N) = kt. In this case, No is 100g, N is 61g, and k is 0.00012097. Solve for t, the time elapsed since the mummy was buried.
Remember to use natural logarithms (ln) in the calculation. This should give you an estimation of how long ago the mummy was buried.