Investigation - Quantifying the Spontaneous Decay of an Unstable Isotope (Discussion)
The Discussion for this investigation is written differently from your previous lab discussion.
Instead of an essay format, write this discussion as an advertisement for the discovery of
some ancient Egyptian (or Myan or Incan or …) artifact you have.
Be as creative as you like, but the discussion must have the minimum following requirements:



One to two pages typed with a border
A small picture of your artifact (you can find pictures of
ancient artifacts that appeal to you through Google images).
Research the age of your artifact and report it. It shouldn’t be
more than 50,000 years old.
An explanation (including one or more diagrams) of how
radioactive carbon dating would be used to determine the age
of your artifact. Make sure you address these concepts:
o What radioactive isotopes are and the main types of
nuclear decay including the specific decay of carbon-14
Example
o How carbon-14 forms in the atmosphere
o How carbon cycles in the environment and gets into plants and animals
o How the amount of carbon-14 decay relates to the age of an artifact
o What half life is and how it works
o How the particle accelerator or mass spectrometer is used in the process of
determining the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12
Here are two reliable resources you can use:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/first/radiocarbon.html
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/geology/carbon-14.htm