Question

Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years. How long will it take 17 grams of carbon-14 to be reduced to 10 grams? Round to the nearest integer.

Answer 1

17(1/2)^(t/5730) = 10
(1/2)^(t/5730) = 10/17
take log of both sides and use rules of logs
(t/5730) log .5 = log10 - lot17
t/5730 = (1 - log17)/log.5

t = 5730(1 - log17)/log .5 = appr 4387 years

Answer 2

Mer? Is that you? It's Brittany!