Chemistry

Chemistry

Problem

During a laboratory test, a wooden artifact shows a count rate of 5.0 dpm g−15.0\,\text{dpm}\,\text{g}^{-1}. The background count of the apparatus is 0.5 dpm g−10.5\,\text{dpm}\,\text{g}^{-1}. For living wood the activity is 15.6 dpm g−115.6\,\text{dpm}\,\text{g}^{-1}. The half-life of 14C^{14}\text{C} is 5730 yr5730\,\text{yr}. a. (i) Find the true activity of the artifact after correcting for background. b. (ii) Estimate the age of the artifact.

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