what are the distinct characteristic does radiocarbons depends on?
3 answers
The characteristic is the battle of binding nuclear energy vs repulsive energy of the protons. This energy changes slightly on each individual particle as they shift in the nucleus, and at some point in time, the binding energy is insufficient to hold a particle in position, and that particle "explodes" and releases energy. Because this event is random, statistically, it ends up having a "mean" time, and we measure that by statistics, so each group of atoms will form a "half-life" of the decay process, which we measure and then predict macroscopic events.
thanks..
The ratio of C-12 to C-14 as a function of remaining activity => age of artifact.
- t∙k = ln(C-14/C-12); t = age of artifact
Note FYI: For living organic tissue, C-14 activity = C-12 activity. For dead organic tissue, C-14 activity < C-12 activity. At death of the organic tissue, C-14 decays to N-14 by beta emission, but C-12 does not decay resulting in C-14 activity < C-12 activity over time. The decay of C-14 follows 1st order decay (as does all radio decay process) giving A = A₀eˉᵏᵗ => -k∙t = ln(A/A₀) => t = ln(A/A₀)/-k = ln(C-14/C-12)/-k; k(C-14) = 0.693/5730 yrs = 1.21E-4 yrˉ¹.
- t∙k = ln(C-14/C-12); t = age of artifact
Note FYI: For living organic tissue, C-14 activity = C-12 activity. For dead organic tissue, C-14 activity < C-12 activity. At death of the organic tissue, C-14 decays to N-14 by beta emission, but C-12 does not decay resulting in C-14 activity < C-12 activity over time. The decay of C-14 follows 1st order decay (as does all radio decay process) giving A = A₀eˉᵏᵗ => -k∙t = ln(A/A₀) => t = ln(A/A₀)/-k = ln(C-14/C-12)/-k; k(C-14) = 0.693/5730 yrs = 1.21E-4 yrˉ¹.
3 answers