A small sample of wood from an archeological site in Clovis, NM, was burned in O

Question

A small sample of wood from an archeological site in Clovis, NM, was burned in O2, and the CO2 produced was bubbled through a solution of Ba(OH)2 to produce a precipitate of BaCO3. When the BaCO3 was collected by filtration, a 1.000 g sample was found to have a radioactivity of 4.0 x 10-3 Bq. The half-life of 14C is 5715 yr, and living organisms have a radioactivity due to 14C of 15.3 disintegrations/min per gram of carbon. Assuming that the analysis was carried out in 1960, what is the age BP of the Clovis site?

Explanation / Answer

half life formula N = n0 e^(K T)
K = ln(.5)/5715 =-0.000121286

From the question:15.3= 16.3e(KT)
ln(0.607361963)/K = T = 11000 years.

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