Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology (6th Edition)
6th Edition
ISBN: 9780134711751
Author: Eric J. Simon, Jean L. Dickey, Jane B. Reece
Publisher: PEARSON
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Chapter 14, Problem 7SQ
Summary Introduction
To determine: The age of a rock found by a paleontologist that contain 12 mg of the radioactive isotope potassium 40. The rock contains 3 mg of potassium 40 and half life of potassium 40 mg is 1.3 billion years.
Introduction: The half life time of a radioactive element can determine the age of a rock. Half life time is the interval time period which is required for the decay of an element to its half value from its initial value. It is denoted as T1/2.
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A paleontologist estimates that when a particular rock formed, it contained 12 mg of the radioactive isotope potassium-40. The rock now contains 3 mg of potassium-40. The half-life of potassium-40 is 1.3 billion years. From this information, you can conclude that the rock is approximately ______________ billion years old.
Which parent isotope is most useful for dating samples that are greater than 100 million years old?
a
potassium-40
b
lead-206
c
argon-40
d
uranium-238
Suppose a scientist finds a rock with an interesting fossil. Curious to know the age of the fossil, she takes the rock to a lab. The
lab determines the amount of rubidium (Rb) and strontium (Sr) in the rock. The scientist is familiar with radiometric dating and
knows that she can now calculate the age of the rock, 1, using an isochron. The Rb-Sr isochron equation is
87.
Rb.
[edr – 1]
86
°Sr.
87
87
Sro
86
Sro
86
Sr.
87.
Rb
3.807 and
89.60. In a published table, she finds that
Using the lab's values, she calculates the isotope ratios as
86
Sr.
87
= 0.7129. She also finds that the decay constant,
86
the ratio of strontium-87 to strontium-86 at the formation of the rock was
Sro
2, for rubidium-87 is 1.42 x 10-11.
Use the equation and provided data to calculate t. Put your answer in scientific notation and round to the nearest tenth.
years
x10
What is the approximate age of the rock in billions of years? Round to the nearest tenth.
billions of years
t =
Chapter 14 Solutions
Campbell Essential Biology with Physiology (6th Edition)
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- A rock sample which originally contained 400 grams of radioactive isotope X now contains 25 grams of the material. The half-life of isotope X is 10,000 years. How old is the rock sample? (Give your answer without any punctuation or lables. For example: 15000).arrow_forwardA fossil is found to contain the radioactive parent and daughter isotopes uranium 235U, and lead 207Pb, in the ratio 12.5% to 87.5%. Assuming that no 207Pb was present when the fossil first formed, estimate the age of this sample.Please show some thought process and a therefore statement. Thank you very much, have a great day!arrow_forward"Carbon 14 decays to carbon12. The half-life of the C14 isotope is 5730 years. 22920 years after an animal dies, ______ carbon 14 will have been replaced with carbon12 and only _____ will remain in a bone sample from the animals skeleton found by the archaeologists. " "More than 99 percent, less than 1 percent" "Three fourths (75 percent), one fourth (25 percent)" "15/16ths (94 percent), 1/16 (6 percent)" "62/64ths (97 percent), 2/64 (3 percent)"arrow_forward
- The most useful method for dating ancient calcium rich cave deposits would be Group of answer choices A: Argon-Argon Dating B: Paleomagnetic Reversals C: Electron Spin Resonance Dating D: Uranium-Thorium Dating E: Potassium-Argon Datingarrow_forwardWhich method is used to assign numerical ages to events or materials? absolute dating half-life dating isotope dating relative datingarrow_forwardRadiometric dating _______. has a substantial error factor can only be used for dating animal fossils can be used to date sedimentary rock, but not fossils is basedon the premise that each isotope decays at a constant rate is unpredictable because of changes in temperature and pressurearrow_forward
- Match the reliable age range of the right with the appropriate technique on the left. Thermoluminescence [ Choose] Choose] Ages greater than 1,000 years ago. Ages between 1,000 years ago and 600 kya. Ages greater than 100 kya Ages between 300 BP and 300 kya. Ages between 0- 50 kya. [Choose ] Uranium-Thorium K-Ar (Potassium-Argon) Fission Track [ Choose ] Radiocarbon (14C) [Choose ]arrow_forwardIf the half-life of a radioisotope is 20,000 years, then a sample in which three-quarters of that radioisotope has decayed is _______ years old. a. 15,000 b. 26,667 c. 30,000 d. 40,000arrow_forwardFact or theory? Organisms that look similar have been observed to have differences when preserved in rocks of different ages.arrow_forward
- In radiometric dating, scientists use the half-life of a radioactive isotope, to determine the approximate age of rocks, and the fossils that are embedded in them. Half-life is the time it takes for half of a radioactive element to become stable.Uranium 238 (238U) is a radioactive element that decays into Lead (206Pb) after 4.5 billion years. 6) Scientists found a fossil in a layer of rock that tested as 1/8th U and 7/8th Pb. What is the approximate age of the fossil? A) 562 million years old B) 4.5 billion years old C) 9 billion years old D) 13.5 billion years old Not Gradedarrow_forwardOne problem in radiocarbon dating of biological samples, especially very old ones, is that they can easily be contaminated with modern biological material during the measurement process. What effect would such contamination have on the estimated age? Why is such contamination a more serious problem for samples of older material than for samples of younger material?arrow_forwardA scientist has a fossil that was found in a layer of rock close to Earth’s surface. He believes that the fossil is around 12,000 years old. Which method would best allow the scientist to confirm the actual age of the fossil? finding another fossil in a deeper layer of rock finding another fossil in the same layer of rock using carbon/nitrogen absolute dating using potassium/argon absolute datingarrow_forward
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