Chapter 20, Problem 28R

To determine

To Choose:The correct option.

Answer to Problem 28R

Correct option is A.

Explanation of Solution

Introduction:

There are different methods to estimate the age of sample materials. The effective method involves an understanding of radioactivity and half-life of a material.

Carbon-14 is useful in dating various types of materials. Conditions for using method for Carbon-14 dating are as follows:

• The carbon-14 can be used to date the material which is organic in nature. Thus, it cannot be used for materials which are not the part of living organisms like metals and marbles.
• It can be used for the materials which are less than about 60,000 years old. So, Uranium-235 can be used for that purpose. Dinosaur fossils (skeleton) or rocks that are million or billion years of old cannot be dated using carbon-14 dating. So, an archeologist is unable to use carbon-14 to accurately date the age of a skeleton that is millions of years old.

Conclusion:

Hence,a fragment of wood from a colonial house can be dated using carbon-14 dating.