The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years.

Question

  Assuming you start with 100% of carbon-14, what is the expression for the percent, P(t), of carbon-14 that remains in an organism that is t years old and what is the percent of carbon-14 remaining (rounded to the nearest whole percent) in an organism estimated to be 12,000 years old?  Hint: The exponential equation for half-life is P(t) = A0(0.5)t/H, where P(t) is the percent of carbon-14 remaining, A0 is the initial amount (100%), t is age of the organism in years, and H is the half-life.

A.P(t) = 100(0.5)^5,730t, 23% remaining
B.P(t) = 100(0.5)^t/5,730, 23% remaining
C.P(t) = 5,730(0.5)^100/t, 5,690 remaining
D.P(t) = 100(0.5)^5,730/t, 77% remaining

Answer 1

P(t) = A₀(0.5)^t/h

P(12000) = A₀(0.5)^12000/5730

P(12000) ≈ A₀(0.5)^2.094

P(12000) ≈ A₀(0.234)

 

B.