Thread: exponential growth function

I dont know if this is the right place for this thread.

1.) A picture supposedly painted by Vermeer (1632-1675) contains 99.5% of its carbon-14 (half-life 5730 yrs) From this information decide whether the picture is a fake. Explain reasoning.

I know the equation for exponential growth/half life stuff is P=(Po)(e^kt)

I dont know where to go from there.

Originally Posted by student4200

I dont know if this is the right place for this thread.

1.) A picture supposedly painted by Vermeer (1632-1675) contains 99.5% of its carbon-14 (half-life 5730 yrs) From this information decide whether the picture is a fake. Explain reasoning.

I know the equation for exponential growth/half life stuff is P=(Po)(e^kt)

I dont know where to go from there.

Note that

Then find k: , where is the half-life.

Note that since we're dealing with decay, the equation would have the form

Once you find k, substitute this into your equation:



Then solve for t.

Does this make sense?

--Chris

Originally Posted by student4200

I dont know if this is the right place for this thread.

1.) A picture supposedly painted by Vermeer (1632-1675) contains 99.5% of its carbon-14 (half-life 5730 yrs) From this information decide whether the picture is a fake. Explain reasoning.

I know the equation for exponential growth/half life stuff is P=(Po)(e^kt)

I dont know where to go from there.

If probability and/or statistics was at all relevant to your question then this would be the right place to post this question .......