Academic Integrity: tutoring, explanations, and feedback — we don’t complete graded work or submit on a student’s behalf.

Q1 How much time is required for a 6.55mg sample of 51Cr to decay to 0.600mg if

ID: 869234 • Letter: Q

Question

Q1

How much time is required for a 6.55mg sample of 51Cr to decay to 0.600mg if it has a half-life of 27.8 days? Express the time in days to one decimal place.

Q2

The cloth shroud from around a mummy is found to have a 14C activity of 9.4 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon as compared with living organisms that undergo 16.3 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon.

From the half-life for 14C decay, 5715 yr, calculate the age of the shroud.

Express your answer using two significant figures.

Explanation / Answer

Q1)Radioactive decay follows first order rate law.

the rate expression is k = 2.303/k .log (a/a-x)

substituting k = 0.693/27.8 and a= 6.55 and a-x = 0.600

we get time= 2.303 x27.8/ 0.693 log (6.55/0.6) = 95.88 years

Q2) Since activity is proportional to concentration of species,

time = 2.303/k log (initial acitivity/activity now)

         substituting k = 0.693/5715 and A1= 16.3   and A2 = 9.4

   we have time = 2.303x5715/0.693 log 16.3/9.4 = 4539.1 Yrs.

                      = 4.5 x103yrs as two significant figures