Answer to Question #281003 in General Chemistry for Jay

Question

Carbon12 (C12) is stable and is the most abundant isotope of carbon. An ancient scrap of paper has 0.5 times the Carbon14 that a new piece of paper has. How many years old is the scrap of paper? (half-life of C14 is 5730 years)

Answer 1

If 0.5 times Carbon 14 that a new piece of paper .

So, 50 % present .

So, half life time required.

So, time required is t1/2 = 5730 years .