Find the age t of a sample, if the total mass of carbon in the sample is mc, the activity of the sample is a, the current ratio

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Find the age t of a sample, if the total mass of carbon in the sample is mc, the activity of the sample is a, the current ratio

of the mass of 14 6c to the total mass of carbon in the atmosphere is r, and the decay constant of 14 6c is λ. assume that, at any time, 14 6c is a negligible fraction of the total mass of carbon and that the measured activity of the sample is purely due to 14 6c. also assume that the ratio of mass of 14 6c to total carbon mass in the atmosphere (the source of the carbon in the sample) is the same at present and on the day when the number of 14 6c atoms in the sample was set. express your answer in terms of the mass ma of a 14 6c atom, mc, a, r, and λ.

Chemistry

1 answer:

Alekssandra [3K] · Answer 1 · 2026-02-27T04:34:49+03:00

N₀ signifies the quantity of C-14 atoms per kg of carbon in the original sample at time = 0 seconds, when the carbon composition matched that in today’s atmosphere. As time progresses to ts, the number of C-14 atoms per kg declines to N, due to radioactive decay. λ indicates the decay constant.
Hence, we have N = N₀e - λt, which is the equation for radioactive decay. Rearranging gives us N₀/N = e λt, or In(N₀/N) = - λt, which becomes equation 1.
The sample contains mc kg of carbon, leading to an activity measured as A/mc decay per kg. The variable r represents the initial mass of C-14 in the sample at t=0 relative to the total mass of carbon which is calculated as [(total number of C-14 atoms at t = 0) × ma] / total mass of carbon. Thus, N₀ equates to r/ma, which becomes equation 2.
The activity of the radioactive element is directly related to the atom count at the moment. The activity equation A = dN/dt = λ(N) indicates that: A = λ₁(N × mc). Rearranging provides N = A / (λmc), represented in equation 3.
By integrating equations 2 and 3, we can solve for t yielding
t = (1/λ) In(rλmc/m₀A).