A sample from a meteorite that landed on Earth has been analyzed, and the result shows that out of every 1,000 nuclei of potassium-40 originally in the meteorite, only 250 are still present, meaning they have not yet decayed. How old is the meteorite (in yr)? (Hint: See the figure below.) (Note: The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years.)

Principles of Physics: A Calculus-Based Text
5th Edition
ISBN:9781133104261
Author:Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett
Publisher:Raymond A. Serway, John W. Jewett
Chapter30: Nuclear Physics
Section: Chapter Questions
Problem 27P
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A sample from a meteorite that landed on Earth has been analyzed, and the result shows that out of every 1,000 nuclei of potassium-40 originally in the meteorite, only 250 are still present, meaning they have not yet decayed. How old is the meteorite (in yr)? (Hint: See the figure below.) (Note: The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years.)
Figure
A graph and a series of bar charts above it both show the percentage of radioactive atoms remaining in a mineral sample. Detailed descriptions of the graph and the bar charts are available in the adjacent lists.
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