Suppose that there was 20 grams of radioactive Carbon in a fossil. After 3 half-lives, approximately how much would still be radioactive? a40 g b20 g c10 g d5 g e2.5 g
Question
Suppose that there was 20 grams of radioactive Carbon in a fossil. After 3 half-lives, approximately how much would still be radioactive? a40 g b20 g c10 g d5 g e2.5 g
Solution
The half-life of a substance is the time it takes for half of it to decay.
-
After one half-life, half of the original amount would remain. So, if we start with 20 grams, after one half-life, we would have 20/2 = 10 grams remaining.
-
After two half-lives, half of the remaining amount would decay. So, we would have 10/2 = 5 grams remaining.
-
After three half-lives, half of the remaining amount would decay. So, we would have 5/2 = 2.5 grams remaining.
So, the answer is e) 2.5 grams.
Similar Questions
A fossil today has 16 g of radioactive Carbon-14. How many grams would still be radioactive in 17,190 years? (the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years) a16 b8 c4 d2 e1
A fossil is found that contains 3 g of radioactive Carbon-14 and 45 g of decayed element. Approximately how many years old is the fossil? (the half-life of Carbon-14 is 5730 years) a5730 b11460 c17190 d22920 e28650
The half-life of a radioactive isotope is the time it takes for a quantity of the isotope to be reduced to half its initial mass. Starting with 185 grams of a radioactive isotope, how much will be left after 5 half-lives?
Select the correct answer.The amount of a radioactive substance remaining as it decays over time is 𝐴=𝐴0(0.5)𝑡ℎ , where A represents the final amount, 𝐴0 represents the original amount, t represents the number of years, and h represents the half-life of the substance.Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope that has a half-life of 5,730 years. Approximately how many years will it take for carbon-14 to decay to 10 percent of its original amount? A. 16,396 years B. 19,035 years C. 28,650 years D. 8,267 years
What is the half-life of a radioisotope if a 100 g sample becomes 50 g after 20 years?A.10 yearsB.20 yearsC.25 yearsD.50 years
Upgrade your grade with Knowee
Get personalized homework help. Review tough concepts in more detail, or go deeper into your topic by exploring other relevant questions.