Astronomy
1st Edition
ISBN: 9781938168284
Author: Andrew Fraknoi; David Morrison; Sidney C. Wolff
Publisher: OpenStax
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Textbook Question
Chapter 7, Problem 19E
Describe how we use radioactive elements and their decay products to find the age of a rock sample. Is this necessarily the age of the entire world from which the sample comes? Explain.
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I need to know the number of years! There is only one part to this question. The pictures show the "Figure" and "Bar charts" tabs and the "Graph" tab says this:
A curve showing the percentage of radioactive atoms remaining in a mineral sample is graphed on a coordinate plane.
The horizontal axis, labeled "Age in half-lives," ranges from 0 to 6.
The vertical axis, labeled "Percentage remaining," ranges from 0 to 100.
The curve enters the viewing field with a negative slope at (0, 100). The magnitude of the negative slope is progressively reduced such that it is nearly horizontal as it exits the viewing field at (6, 0.02).
Thank you!!
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).
A fossil contains 4.06 grams of carbon 14. Refer to the formulaA(t) =
C
0.999879t
which gives the original amount of carbon 14 t years ago in terms of the amount C that is left now, and estimate the amount of carbon 14 in the sample 10,000 years, 20,000 years, and 30,000 years ago. (Round your answers to one decimal place.
Chapter 7 Solutions
Astronomy
Ch. 7 - Venus rotates backward and Uranus and Pluto spin...Ch. 7 - What is the difference between a differentiated...Ch. 7 - What does a planet need in order to retain an...Ch. 7 - Which type of planets have the most moons? Where...Ch. 7 - What is the difference between a meteor and a...Ch. 7 - Explain our ideas about why the terrestrial...Ch. 7 - Do all planetary systems look the same as our own?Ch. 7 - What is comparative planetology and why is it...Ch. 7 - What changed in our understanding of the Moon and...Ch. 7 - If Earth was to be hit by an extraterrestrial...
Ch. 7 - List some reasons that the study of the planets...Ch. 7 - Imagine you are a travel agent in the next...Ch. 7 - What characteristics do the worlds in our solar...Ch. 7 - How do terrestrial and giant planets differ? List...Ch. 7 - Why are there so many craters on the Moon and so...Ch. 7 - How do asteroids and comets differ?Ch. 7 - How and why is Earth’s Moon different from the...Ch. 7 - Where would you look for some “original”...Ch. 7 - Describe how we use radioactive elements and their...Ch. 7 - What was the solar nebula like? Why did the Sun...Ch. 7 - What can we learn about the formation of our solar...Ch. 7 - Earlier in this chapter, we modeled the solar...Ch. 7 - Seasons are a result of the inclination of a...Ch. 7 - Again using Appendix F, which planet(s) might you...Ch. 7 - Again using Appendix F, which planets might you...Ch. 7 - Using some of the astronomical resources in your...Ch. 7 - Explain why the planet Venus is differentiated,...Ch. 7 - Would you expect as many impact craters per unit...Ch. 7 - Using Appendix G, complete the following table...Ch. 7 - Calculate the density of Jupiter. Show your work....Ch. 7 - Calculate the density of Saturn. Show your work....Ch. 7 - What is the density of Jupiter’s moon Europa (see...Ch. 7 - Look at Appendix F and Appendix G and indicate the...Ch. 7 - Barnard’s Star, the second closest star to us, is...Ch. 7 - A radioactive nucleus has a half-life of 5108...
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Need a deep-dive on the concept behind this application? Look no further. Learn more about this topic, physics and related others by exploring similar questions and additional content below.Similar questions
- Which of the following is the best way to measure the age of the Earth? Examine rocks collected in my backyard. Analyze maps of all known fossil sites in the United States. Test the rate of decay of specific elements in rock samples. Explore leaves embedded in ash from recent volcanic eruptions.arrow_forwardDefine the activity of a radionuclide. Write its S.I. unit. Give a plot of the activity of a radioactive species versus time. How long will a radioactive isotope, whose half life is T years, take for its activity to reduce to 1/8th of its initial value?arrow_forwardA radioactive nucleus has a half-life of 5108 years. Assuming that a sample of rock (say, in an asteroid) solidified right after the solar system formed, approximately what fraction of the radioactive element should be left in the rock today?arrow_forward
- An isotope of a radioactive element has half-life equal to 5 thousand years. Imagine a sample that is so old that most of its radioactive atoms have decayed, leaving just 20 percent of the initial quantity of the isotope remaining. How old is the sample? Give your answer in thousands of years, correct to one decimal place. Age : ___ thousand years.arrow_forwardAccording to modern science, Earth is about 4.5 billion years old and written human history extends back about 10,000 years. Suppose the entire history of Earth is represented with a 100-meter-long timeline, with the birth of Earth on one end and today at the other end. a. What distance represents 1 billion years? b. How far from the end of the timeline does written human history begin? a. 1 billion years is represented by meters of the timeline. (Type an integer or decimal rounded to the nearest tenth as needed.) millimeters from the end of the timeline. b. Written human history begins about (Type an integer or decimal rounded to the nearest hundredth as needed.)arrow_forwardAn isotope of a radioactive element has half-life equal to 9 thousand years. Imagine a sample that is so old that most of its radioactive atoms have decayed, leaving just 25 percent of the initial quantity of the isotope remaining. How old is the sample? Give your answer in thousands of years, correct to one decimal place.arrow_forward
- You want to use radiometric dating to determine the age of a specimen. You use Isotope Z, which has a half-life of 645 years. You measure your sample and find that 1/16 of the original amount of Isotope Z is present. How old is the sample?arrow_forwardXavier is at NASA analyzing Moon rocks. In one of the rocks from the lunar Maria, he discovered 80% of the original uranium-238 remains, while remaining amount of uranium-238 had decayed into lead. The half life of uranium-238 is 4.5 x 109 years. Assume the only decay product is lead. How old is the lunar Maria rock in billions of years (109 years) ?arrow_forwardCharan is at NASA analyzing Moon rocks. In one of the rocks from the lunar highlands, he discovered 37 % of the original uranium-238 remains, while remaining amount of uranium-238 had decayed into lead. The half life of uranium-238 is 4.5 × 109 years. Assume the only decay product is lead. How old is the lunar maria rock in billions of years (109 years)?arrow_forward
- Imagine 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_forwardA) Describe the nuclear reaction that forms C14, B) what it decays into, and C) how it isused to date carbon-based life?arrow_forwardA 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.arrow_forward
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