Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. How much of a 144 g sample of carbon-14 will remain after 1719 years?

1 Answer
Aug 5, 2017

The mass remaining is =117g

Explanation:

The half life of carbon-14 is t12=5730y

This means that in 5730y, the initial amount of carbon14 will be halved

The radioactive constant is

λ=ln2t12=ln25730=0.000121

The fundamental decay equation is

m=m0eλt

The initial amount of carbon14 is m0=144g

The time is t=1719y

Therefore

m=144e0.0001211719=144e0.208=117g