Use this paragraph: The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years. A certain sample of wood has 20 grams of carbon-14 when it is alive.
How many grams of carbon will it have after 5,700 years?
(1 point)
Responses
10 grams
10 grams
5 grams
5 grams
40 grams
40 grams
2 grams
10 grams
To calculate the number of grams of carbon-14 remaining after 5,700 years, we need to determine the amount of carbon-14 that decays during this period. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,700 years, which means that after 5,700 years, half of the original amount will remain. Therefore, the sample will have half of the initial 20 grams of carbon-14.
Using this information, we can calculate the remaining amount:
20 grams (initial amount) / 2 = 10 grams
Therefore, after 5,700 years, the sample of wood will have 10 grams of carbon-14 remaining. Therefore, the correct answer is:
10 grams