Answered

Welcome to Westonci.ca, the place where your questions find answers from a community of knowledgeable experts. Connect with a community of experts ready to provide precise solutions to your questions on our user-friendly Q&A platform. Get precise and detailed answers to your questions from a knowledgeable community of experts on our Q&A platform.

A fossil you are radiometrically dating contains 4 micrograms of Uranium 235 and 4 micrograms of Lead 207. Uranium 235 decays to Lead 207; the half-life of Uranium 235 is 710 million years. How old is the fossil

Sagot :

The rate at which radioactive substances disintegrate is a constant for a

given radioactive material.

  • The fossil is 710 million years old.

Reasons:

The half-life of a radioactive material is the time it takes half of the nucleus

of a radioactive material to disintegrate into other forms of materials

through the given off of energy and particles.

The half life of Uranium 235 = 710 million years

The product of the decay of Uranium 235 = Lead 207

The mass of Uranium 235 in the fossil = 4 micrograms

The mass of Lead 207 in the sample = 4 micrograms

Therefore, the mass of Lead 207 in the fossil is equal to the mass of

Uranium 235, therefore, a minimum of half of the Uranium 235 has

decomposed, which gives;

The time of decomposition of the Uranium 235 = 1 Half life = 710 million years

The age of the fossil = The time in which the Uranium has been

decomposing = The time of decomposition = 1 half life of Uranium 235 = 710

million years

  • The age of the fossil = 710 million years

Using the formula for half-life, we get;

[tex]\displaystyle N(t) = N_0 \left (\dfrac{1}{2} \right )^{\dfrac{t}{t_{1/2}}[/tex]

The fossil contains initially only Uranium 235 with a minimum mass of 4 mg

+ 4 mg = 8 mg, which gives;

N₀ = 8 mg

N(t) = The current mass of Uranium 235 = 4 mg

[tex]\displaystyle t_{1/2}[/tex] = 710 million years

[tex]\displaystyle 4 = 8 \cdot \left (\dfrac{1}{2} \right )^{\dfrac{t}{710}[/tex]

[tex]\displaystyle \frac{4}{8} = \frac{1}{2} = \left (\dfrac{1}{2} \right )^{\dfrac{t}{710}[/tex]

Therefore;

[tex]\displaystyle \left( \frac{1}{2}\right)^1 = \left (\dfrac{1}{2} \right )^{\dfrac{t}{710}[/tex]

[tex]\displaystyle 1 = {\dfrac{t}{710}[/tex]

t = 710

  • The age of the fossil, t = 710 million years

Learn more here:

https://brainly.com/question/20629992

We appreciate your time. Please revisit us for more reliable answers to any questions you may have. Thanks for using our service. We're always here to provide accurate and up-to-date answers to all your queries. Get the answers you need at Westonci.ca. Stay informed with our latest expert advice.