The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. How much of a 50 g sample of carbon-14 is present after 11,460 years?
that is two half lives...
50>25>12.5 grams in two half lives.
To determine the amount of carbon-14 remaining after 11,460 years, 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 sample to decay.
In this case, the half-life of carbon-14 is given as 5730 years. This means that after 5730 years, half of the sample will have decayed, leaving only half of the original amount.
To find out how much is left after 11,460 years, we need to divide the elapsed time by the half-life.
11,460 years / 5730 years = 2
Since 11,460 years is exactly two times the half-life of carbon-14, it means that carbon-14 has gone through two half-lives during this time.
After each half-life, the amount of carbon-14 is halved. Therefore, after two half-lives, the remaining amount will be halved again.
Starting with a 50 g sample, after the first half-life, it would be reduced to 25 g. After the second half-life, it would be reduced to 12.5 g.
Therefore, after 11,460 years, the amount of carbon-14 remaining from a 50 g sample would be 12.5 g.