TUTOR Radiochemical Dating half-life rate constant, k

Last updated: 7/23/2022

TUTOR Radiochemical Dating half-life rate constant, k disintegrations per minute (No) elapsed time (age) Radiochemical dating works on the principle that the quantity of radiation emitted from a sample is proportional to the quantity of radioactive isotope present. Therefore, comparing the radioactivity of an old sample (at time t) to that of a new sample (at time 0) can give the ratio of masses (or amounts) of the radioactive isotope present in each. This ratio can then be used to calculate the time elapsed. Step 1 Use the half-life to calculate the rate constant for the reaction. All radioactive decay processes are first order, so k = 0.693/t1/2- Step 2 Experimentally determine the number of disintegrations per minute for the artifact and for carbon in living matter. The ratio of these two values is equal to N₂/No. Step 3 Solve for time elapsed. The carbon-14 activity of an artifact from a burial site was 6.0 min¹g¹. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years, and the current carbon-14 activity is 16.1 min¹g¹ (that is, 16.1 disintegrations per minuts per gram of carbon). How old is the artifact? y