Answer to Question #89211 in Atomic and Nuclear Physics for Sridhar

Question

a piece of wood from an ancient boat was found to show c14 activity of 5 counts per minute an equal amount of wood of recent date give a count rate of 20 counts per minute the half life of c14 is 5568 years the age of the boat

Answer 1

Solution

$$A = A(normal)/2^n$$

where A -- ¹⁴C activity, n -- number of half-life periods;

The ¹⁴C activity has decreased by 4 times (20/5 = 4);

As 4 = 2², then n=2;

$$Age = 2 * 5568 = 11136 (y.)$$

Answer

The age of the boat is 11136 years.