The ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 in a prehistoric wooden artifact is measured to be one-eight of the ratio measured in a fresh sample of wood from the same region. the half life of carbon-14 is 5,715 years. determine its age.

Carbon-14 is radioactive and decays spontaneously. Interaction between stellar radiation and atmospheric nitrogen ensures a constant carbon-14 to carbon-12 ratio in the earth atmosphere. Living plants undergo respiration and take in carbon constantly and maintain a constant carbon-14-to-carbon-12 ratio in their tissues. Carbon atoms in wood artifacts are no longer refreshed such that the relative abundance of carbon-14 decays exponentially.

It takes one half-life for the relative abundance of carbon-14 in a sample to drop by one half. It would thus take three consecutive half-lives for the mass of carbon-14 in the wooden artifact to decrease by a factor of eight.

as seen in the question. Three half-lives would thus correspond to

The age of this sample is therefore at most.

i would say b

explanation:

but i think i would need more information than that

answer : one can design an experiment using a liquid and an additive that can be added to the liquid and observe the chemical changes in the reaction species.

one would need a beaker which is filled with a known amount of the liquid in which thermometer is placed to measure the temperature changes; after addition of the additive to the liquid solution one can note down the temperature change and find whether the reaction is endothermic or exothermic in nature. by subtracting the initial temperature value with the final temperature one can find the temperature changes.

various combinations of liquid and additive can be used. liquid in this case can be a known quantity of water and additives can be epsom salt or without epsom salt the experiment can be conducted to notice the changes. water and ice, hydrogen peroxide and dry yeast, vinegar and baking soda,etc.