Thread: Carbon dating problem

Charcoal collected from a cave at an archaeological site is characterized by an average of 0.97 disintergrations of radioactive carbon-14 per minute per gram. Living wood is characterized by an average of 6.68 disintergrations of carbon-14 per minute per gram. The half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 5700 years. Estimate the date of occupation of the cave.

Originally Posted by zcus05

Charcoal collected from a cave at an archaeological site is characterized by an average of 0.97 disintergrations of radioactive carbon-14 per minute per gram. Living wood is characterized by an average of 6.68 disintergrations of carbon-14 per minute per gram. The half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 5700 years. Estimate the date of occupation of the cave.

The number of disintegrations per min/gm is:



Where is measured in years since the wood lived.

So if the rate is now you need to solve for


CB

Thanks a bunch, I think I was trying to over-think it