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How is radiometric dating used to tell the age of a fossil?
The radiometric dating method for organic matter that most people know about is carbon dating, and this method is limited to things less than about 60,000 years old. It will not do for a fossil, because the carbon-14 would be nearly all gone. In fact, for practical purposes, it would be all gone. And so would many or all of the materials that were in the animal or plant that left the fossil. At the age given, the materials originally in a fossil are likely to have been replaced with other materials, so there would be likely to be very original material left to analyze. Also bear in mind that not all fossils are remains of living matter, for example, a remnant of a hole dug by an insect or worm could be a fossil. Dating such old fossils can be done by dating the stone matrix in which they are found. This is done by comparing amounts of specific radioactive materials with amounts of other materials into which they decay. For example, potassium-40 decays into argon-40. With luck, meaning for example that the fossil has not been heated to much, we can compare the amounts of these substances in the rock to determine how long ago it became rock. That will tell us its age, give or take a twenty million years or so. There are many similar combinations of isotopes that can be used, and the people doing the analysis would know which to use when they see what kind of rock is involved.
How can this be used to calculate the amount of a radioactive element compared to its original amount?
To calculate the amount of a radioactive element compared to its original amount, you need to use the radioactive decay equation: A = A₀ * e^(-λt), where A is the final amount, A₀ is the initial amount, λ is the decay constant, and t is the time elapsed. By plugging in the values for A₀, t, and λ, you can determine the final amount of the radioactive element.
After 36.9 years a sample of hydrogen contains one-eighth the amount it contained originally what is the half-life of the isotope?
The half-life of the isotope in question is 12.3 years. This can be calculated by dividing the time it took for the sample to decrease to one-eighth its original amount (36.9 years) by 3, which represents the number of half-lives it took to reach that point.
In a time equal to two half-lives of a radioactive isotope would you expect all of that isotope to have decayed?
No. In two half-lives, a radioactive isotope will decay to one quarter of its original mass. In one half-life, one half of the mass decays. In the next half-life, one half of the remaining mass decays, and so on and so forth. At each half-life point, you would see 0.5, 0.25, 0.125, 0.0625, etc. remaining. The logarithmic equation is... AT = A0 2(-T/H)
When an atom undergoes radioactive decay when does it become a completely different element?
An atom of a given isotope will undergo radioactive decay whenever it feels like it. No joke. The nucleus of a radioactive isotope is unstable. Always. But that atom has no predictable moment of instability leading immediately to the decay event. We use something called a half life to estimate how long it will take for half a given quantity of an isotope to undergo radioactive decay until half the original amount is left, but this is a statistically calculated period. No one knows how long it will take a given atom of a radioactive isotope to decay, except that those with very short half lives will pretty much disappear relatively quickly.
Is it true that atoms of the same element have the same amount of neutrons?
If the chemical element has isotopes the number of neutrons is different for each isotope.
What is it called when it takes an element half the amount of time for a radioactive isotope to decay?
Half-life
How much of an original isotope remains at the end of a second half-life?
At the end of a second half-life, one-fourth (25%) of the original isotope remains. This is because each half-life halves the amount of the isotope present.
How is radiometric dating used to tell the age of a fossil?
The radiometric dating method for organic matter that most people know about is carbon dating, and this method is limited to things less than about 60,000 years old. It will not do for a fossil, because the carbon-14 would be nearly all gone. In fact, for practical purposes, it would be all gone. And so would many or all of the materials that were in the animal or plant that left the fossil. At the age given, the materials originally in a fossil are likely to have been replaced with other materials, so there would be likely to be very original material left to analyze. Also bear in mind that not all fossils are remains of living matter, for example, a remnant of a hole dug by an insect or worm could be a fossil. Dating such old fossils can be done by dating the stone matrix in which they are found. This is done by comparing amounts of specific radioactive materials with amounts of other materials into which they decay. For example, potassium-40 decays into argon-40. With luck, meaning for example that the fossil has not been heated to much, we can compare the amounts of these substances in the rock to determine how long ago it became rock. That will tell us its age, give or take a twenty million years or so. There are many similar combinations of isotopes that can be used, and the people doing the analysis would know which to use when they see what kind of rock is involved.
If a radioactive element half life is 500000 years given 20 grams of the element how much is left after 4 half lives?
Just divide the original amount by 2, 4 times: 10; 5; 2.5; 1.25. The final number is the answer.
How can one determine the natural abundance of an isotope?
One can determine the natural abundance of an isotope by analyzing the ratio of the isotope to the total amount of that element in a sample using techniques such as mass spectrometry or nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy.
How do you find percent abundance?
Percent abundance is calculated by determining the proportion of a specific isotope of an element relative to the total amount of all isotopes of that element. To find it, divide the number of atoms of the isotope by the total number of atoms of all isotopes, then multiply by 100 to convert it to a percentage. For example, if an element has two isotopes, with 75 atoms of isotope A and 25 atoms of isotope B, the percent abundance of isotope A would be (75 / (75 + 25)) × 100 = 75%.
How much of a radio active parent isotope remains after one half life has pass?
Half the original amount.
How can this be used to calculate the amount of a radioactive element compared to its original amount?
To calculate the amount of a radioactive element compared to its original amount, you need to use the radioactive decay equation: A = A₀ * e^(-λt), where A is the final amount, A₀ is the initial amount, λ is the decay constant, and t is the time elapsed. By plugging in the values for A₀, t, and λ, you can determine the final amount of the radioactive element.
How much time is needed for half the amount of the sample of an element to decay?
The half-life has a specific value for each isotope.
What are the different types of dating?
By far the most common is radioactive dating which involves checking the amount of a given radioactive isotope in a given sample is left over (and calculating from the half-life [the time it takes for a radioactive element/isotope to decay to half the original amount]). Another one would likely be tree-ring dating which only determines the age of trees by how many rings it has.
what are different types of dates?
By far the most common is radioactive dating which involves checking the amount of a given radioactive isotope in a given sample is left over (and calculating from the half-life [the time it takes for a radioactive element/isotope to decay to half the original amount]). Another one would likely be tree-ring dating which only determines the age of trees by how many rings it has.
