Essential University Physics (3rd Edition)
3rd Edition
ISBN: 9780134202709
Author: Richard Wolfson
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 38, Problem 47P
As a geologist, you’re assessing the feasibility of determining the ages of Earth’s earliest rocks using radioactive dating. You estimate the number of half-lives that have passed for three different isotopes during Earth’s 4.5-billion-year lifetime, and from that you determine the number of atoms remaining today from 106 atoms present at Earth’s formation. The isotopes you consider are carbon-14, ura-nium-238, and potassium-40. What are your estimates, and which isotopes do you conclude are suitable for radioactive dating?
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Chapter 38 Solutions
Essential University Physics (3rd Edition)
Ch. 38.1 - Prob. 38.1GICh. 38.2 - Prob. 38.2GICh. 38.3 - Prob. 38.3GICh. 38.4 - Prob. 38.4GICh. 38.5 - Prob. 38.5GICh. 38 - Prob. 1FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 2FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 3FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 4FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 5FTD
Ch. 38 - Why are iodine-131 and strontium-90 particularly...Ch. 38 - Prob. 7FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 8FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 9FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 10FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 11FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 12FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 13FTDCh. 38 - Prob. 14FTDCh. 38 - Explain the different approaches to the Lawson...Ch. 38 - Prob. 16FTDCh. 38 - Three radon isotopes have 125, 134, and 136...Ch. 38 - Prob. 18ECh. 38 - Prob. 19ECh. 38 - Prob. 20ECh. 38 - Prob. 21ECh. 38 - How many half-lives will it take for the activity...Ch. 38 - Prob. 23ECh. 38 - Prob. 24ECh. 38 - Prob. 25ECh. 38 - Prob. 26ECh. 38 - Prob. 27ECh. 38 - Prob. 28ECh. 38 - Use Fig. 38.9 to estimate the mass defect in...Ch. 38 - Find the total binding energy of oxygen-16, given...Ch. 38 - Determine the nuclear mass of nickel-60, given...Ch. 38 - Prob. 32ECh. 38 - Prob. 33ECh. 38 - Prob. 34ECh. 38 - Prob. 35ECh. 38 - Prob. 36ECh. 38 - Prob. 37ECh. 38 - Prob. 38ECh. 38 - Prob. 39ECh. 38 - Prob. 40ECh. 38 - Prob. 41ECh. 38 - Prob. 42PCh. 38 - Prob. 43PCh. 38 - Prob. 44PCh. 38 - Iron-56, with nuclear mass 55.9206 u, is among the...Ch. 38 - Prob. 46PCh. 38 - As a geologist, youre assessing the feasibility of...Ch. 38 - Prob. 48PCh. 38 - Prob. 49PCh. 38 - Nitrogen-13 is a 9.97-min-half-lifc isotope used...Ch. 38 - Prob. 51PCh. 38 - Prob. 52PCh. 38 - Prob. 53PCh. 38 - Prob. 54PCh. 38 - The table below lists reported levels of...Ch. 38 - Prob. 56PCh. 38 - Analysis of a Moon rock shows that 82% of its...Ch. 38 - Prob. 58PCh. 38 - Prob. 59PCh. 38 - Today, uranium-235 comprises only 0.72% of natural...Ch. 38 - Prob. 61PCh. 38 - Prob. 62PCh. 38 - Prob. 63PCh. 38 - Prob. 64PCh. 38 - Prob. 65PCh. 38 - Prob. 66PCh. 38 - Prob. 67PCh. 38 - Prob. 68PCh. 38 - Prob. 69PCh. 38 - Prob. 70PCh. 38 - Prob. 71PCh. 38 - Prob. 72PCh. 38 - Prob. 73PCh. 38 - Prob. 74PCh. 38 - Bismuth-209 and chromium-54 combine to form a...Ch. 38 - Prob. 76PCh. 38 - Prob. 77PCh. 38 - Prob. 78PCh. 38 - Prob. 79PCh. 38 - Prob. 80PCh. 38 - Prob. 81PCh. 38 - Prob. 82PCh. 38 - Prob. 83PCh. 38 - Prob. 84PCh. 38 - Prob. 85PCh. 38 - Prob. 86PPCh. 38 - Prob. 87PPCh. 38 - Prob. 88PPCh. 38 - Prob. 89PP
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- A rock sample which originally contained 400 grams of radioactive isotope X now contains 25 grams of the material. The half-life of isotope X is 10,000 years. How old is the rock sample? (Give your answer without any punctuation or lables. For example: 15000).arrow_forwardA) How much mass is left in a piece of animal skin after 17,145 years when a newly made piece of leather about the same size contains approximately 5603g of C-14? The half-life of C-14 is 5,715 years. B)How many years old is a piece of fossilized charcoal if the fossil contains 13.289g of C-14 when a new piece of charcoal of similar size contains 6803.9g? The half-life of C-14 is 5,715 years.arrow_forwardA fossil is found that contains 6.25% as much Radium-226 as fossils being formed today. The half-life of Radium -226 is 1.60 x103 years. How old is the fossil? Hint: How many half-lives did the Radium-226 go through for 6.25% to remain? So, how many years have passed over 4 half lives?arrow_forward
- The half-life for a particular isotope is 5 seconds. Suppose there are initially 380 grams present in a specimen. Find how much of the specimen remains after 8 seconds. (Your answer should contain about 4 or 5 significant digits.) Determine how long it will take for there to be 240 grams remaining. (Your answer should contain about 4 or 5 significant digits.)arrow_forwardThe hot liquid magma of molten earth was on full display in Mauna Loa as it has been actively erupting over the past couple of weeks.Geologist and scientist have determined that about 50% of the earth's interior is due to the release of heat by the decay of radioactive elements like potassium-40, uranium-238 and thorium-232, which have half-lives of 1.25 billion, 4 billion and 14 billion years, respectively. a) Write the equation of the BETA-minus decay of potassium-40. b). Write the equation of the ALPHA decay of uranium-238. c). Write the equation of the ALPHA decay of thorium-232.arrow_forwardCarbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. In a plant fossil, you find that the 14C14C has decayed to 1/4.00 of the original amount. How long ago was this plant alive?arrow_forward
- Assume you found a radioactive isotope that has a 1 million year half-life in an "old" bone. If you were to measure a 20% "parent" to 80% "daughter" ratio, how old is the bone? How would a bone twice as big change the count rate and the half-life?arrow_forwardYou have just isolated a new radioactive element. If you can determine its half-life, you will win the Nobel Prize in physics. You purify a sample of 2 grams. One of your colleagues steals half of it, and four days later you find that 0.4 gram of the radioactive material is still left. What is the half-life? (Round your answer to three significant digits.)arrow_forwardA fossilized leaf contains 70% of its normal amount of carbon-14.(a) How old is the fossil? Use 5730 years as the half-life of carbon-14.(b) Using a graphing utility, graph the relation between the percentage of carbon-14 remaining and time.(c) Using INTERSECT, determine the time that elapses until one-fourth of the carbon-14 remains.(d) Verify the answer found in part (a).arrow_forward
- The mass of a radioactive sample is given by M(t)=M010^-kt, where t is the time in years, M0 is the initial mass, and k is a constant. If 400 grams of the material decays to 40 grams in 10 years, what is the value of k?arrow_forwardThe radioactive potassium-40 isotope decays to argon-40. A 2.97 x 10^9 year old sample of moon rock was found to contain 18% potassium-40 and 82% argon-40 by mass. Calculate the half-life of potassium-40 isotope.arrow_forwardImagine you are a scientist and you are working with a museum on an archaeology exhibit. They tell you that they have an ancient leaf they believe to be 24,000 years old. You use radiocarbon dating and discover that the leaf contains 1/32 of the carbon-14 of a living plant. What do you tell the museum?(half life of 14-carbon = 6000 years)arrow_forward
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