Archeologists continue to debate the arrival of the first humans in the Western Hemisphere. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from a cave in Chile was used to establish the earliest date of human habitation in South America as 8700 years ago. This procedure involves comparing the 14C present in a sample of charcoal to the 14C present in a living tree of the same age. What fraction of the 14C initially present remained in the charcoal after 8700 years? The half-life of 14C is 5730 years. (Write the answer as a number with a decimal.)

Archeologists continue to debate the arrival of the first humans in the Western Hemisphere. Radiocarbon dating of charcoal from a cave in Chile was used to establish the earliest date of human habitation in South America as 8700 years ago. This procedure involves comparing the ¹⁴C present in a sample of charcoal to the ¹⁴C present in a living tree of the same age.

What fraction of the ¹⁴C initially present remained in the charcoal after 8700 years? The half-life of ¹⁴C is 5730 years. (Write the answer as a number with a decimal.)