Question: Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope used to date objects. If A 0 represents the initial amount of carbon-14 in the object, then the quantity remaining

Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope used to date objects. If Arepresents the initial amount of carbon-14 in the object, then the quantity remaining at time t, in years, is

A(t) = A0e−0.000121t.

(a) A tree, originally containing 185 micrograms of carbon-14, is now 500 years old. At what rate is the carbon-14 decaying now?
(b) In 1988, scientists found that the Shroud of Turin, which was reputed to be the burial cloth of Jesus, contained 91% of the amount of carbon-14 in freshly made cloth of the same material. According to this data, how old was the Shroud of Turin in 1988?

Step by Step Solution

3.30 Rating (174 Votes )

There are 3 Steps involved in it

1 Expert Approved Answer
Step: 1 Unlock

a We first substitute A 0 185 differentiate At and substitute t 500 At 185e 0000121t At ... View full answer

blur-text-image
Question Has Been Solved by an Expert!

Get step-by-step solutions from verified subject matter experts

Step: 2 Unlock
Step: 3 Unlock

Students Have Also Explored These Related Applied Calculus Questions!