Question

In the year 2005, a picture supposedly painted by a famous artist some time after 1815 but before 1865 contains 96.5 percent of its carbon-14 (half-life 5730 years).

From this information, could this picture have been painted by this artist?

Approximately how old is the painting?

Answer 1

.965= (1/2)^(t/5730)
take the ln of each side

ln(.965)=t/5730 * ln (1/2)
solve for t.

I get about 300 years ago it was painted.

Answer 2

This was very helpful. Thank you.