Introductory Chemistry (5th Edition)

Published by Pearson
ISBN 10: 032191029X
ISBN 13: 978-0-32191-029-5

Chapter 17 - Radioactivity and Nuclear Chemistry - Exercises - Problems - Page 639: 82

Answer

17190 years ago.

Work Step by Step

Carbon-14 content reduces to $100\%\times\frac{1}{2}=50\%$ after 1 half-life. Carbon-14 content reduces to $50\%\times\frac{1}{2}=25\%$ after two half-lives. This reduces to $25\%\times\frac{1}{2}=12.50\%$ after 3 half-lives. $\implies t=3\times t_{1/2}=3\times5730\,y=17,190\,y$ The mammoth lived 17190 years ago.
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