carbon 14 has a half life of 5715 years. If you start with a 5 gram sample of 14C, what mass is left after 15,000 years?
k = 0.693/t1/2
solve for k.
ln(No/N) = kt
No = 5.00 g
N = ?
k from above.
t = time in years = 15,000
Thank you so much.
To determine the mass of carbon-14 (14C) remaining after 15,000 years, we can use the concept of half-life.
The half-life of carbon-14 is given as 5715 years, which means that after every 5715-year period, half of the initial amount of carbon-14 will decay.
We can calculate the number of 5715-year periods in 15,000 years by dividing 15,000 by 5715:
15,000 years ÷ 5,715 years ≈ 2.62 periods
This means that over 15,000 years, there would have been two complete half-life periods and an additional partial period.
Now, let's calculate the remaining mass:
After one half-life period, the mass remaining will be half of the initial mass. Therefore, after two half-life periods, the mass remaining will be (1/2) * (1/2) = 1/4 of the initial mass.
Mass remaining = (1/4) * 5 grams
Mass remaining = 1.25 grams
Therefore, after 15,000 years, there would be approximately 1.25 grams of carbon-14 left.