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Ch.20 - Nuclear Chemistry

Chapter 20, Problem 6

In a cave in Oregon, archaeologists found bones, plant remains, and fossilized feces. DNA remaining in the feces indi-cates their human origin but not their age. To date the remains, the decay rate was measured and found to be 2.71 disinte-grations/min per gram of carbon. Currently living organisms have a decay rate of 15.3 disintegrations/min per gram of carbon, and the half-life of 14C is 5715 years. How old are the remains? (a) 1460 years (b) 9900 years (c) 14300 years (d) 18600 years

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