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Performance Task

Carbon Dating

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  • Did You Know?

Ancient Discovery

Ancient Discovery

You discover an ancient manuscript at an archaeological site. The manuscript is written on an organic material made from a plant called papyrus. You determine that the concentration of carbon-14 in the papyrus is about 0.93 part per trillion. Use a model to approximate the number of years since the papyrus plant died. Explain your reasoning.

Use the Internet or another resource to research carbon dating. What are some of its limitations? What assumptions do scientists make when using this dating method?


fossils

Did You Know?

  • Carbon dating was developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in 1960.
  • The carbon dating method only works to about 60,000 years old.
  • Radioactive decay is the spontaneous breakdown of an atomic nucleus resulting in the release of energy and matter from the nucleus. This process, called transmutation, transforms one element into another. The transmutation process will continue until a new element is formed that has a stable nucleus.

Find Out More – Search Topics

  • Carbon dating
  • Radioactive decay