All living things contain carbon. Most of this carbon is stable carbon - 12 Howe

Question

All living things contain carbon. Most of this carbon is stable carbon - 12 However, a small percentage will be carbon - 14, a radioactive isotope of carbon that decays with tome. As living things eat and breath, carbon is constantly recycled, and therefore the amount of carbon remains constant, it's not until death that the amount of carbon - 14 will begin to diminish due to decay. Therefore, we can determine how long organic materials has been dead by comparing its carbon-14 content to the amount expected for a living organism. What values of x, y, and z complete this table? Enter the value of x, y, and z respectively, separated by commas.

Explanation / Answer

First, find half life:

100% --> 50% tim ereuiqred = 5730 years

now..

A = A0*(1/2)^(t/HL)

A/A0 --> fraciton left

% = (1/2)^(t/HL) * 100%

% = (1/2)^(t/5730) * 100%

substitute all times in order to get x,y,z

x)

% = (1/2)^(17190/5730) * 100%

% left = 12.5

y)

% = (1/2)^(22920/5730) * 100%

% left = 6.25

z)

% = (1/2)^(28650/5730) * 100%

% left = 3.125

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