Delos
May 18, 2009, 01:12 PM
Hey, I'm doing my maths homework but I'm stuck.
The question goes Bones A and B are x and y thousand years old respectively. Bone A contains 3 times as much carbon-14 as bone B. What can you say about the ages of the bones and justify your answer.
The formula for the carbon-14 is:
a=15.3 x 0.8860^t
a= carbon-14
t= time in thousand
Ive done a bit but now I'm lost. This is what I've got so far.
Sorry, I don't know how to do the fansy looking one that looks neat.
a=15.3×0.8860^y----1
3a= 15.3×0.8860^x
=((15.3×(0.8860)^x ))/3----2
sub 2 into 1
((15.3×(0.8860)^x ))/3=15.3×0.8860^y
5.1×0.8860^x=15.3×0.8860^y
(5.1×0.8860^x)/(5.1)=(15.3×0.8860^y)/(5.1)
0.8860^x=3×0.8860^y
ln(0.8860^x )=ln(3×0.886〗^y )
x.ln(0.8860)=ln(3)+y.ln(0.8860)
x.ln(0.8860)-y.ln(0.8860)=ln(3)
Thank in advance...
The question goes Bones A and B are x and y thousand years old respectively. Bone A contains 3 times as much carbon-14 as bone B. What can you say about the ages of the bones and justify your answer.
The formula for the carbon-14 is:
a=15.3 x 0.8860^t
a= carbon-14
t= time in thousand
Ive done a bit but now I'm lost. This is what I've got so far.
Sorry, I don't know how to do the fansy looking one that looks neat.
a=15.3×0.8860^y----1
3a= 15.3×0.8860^x
=((15.3×(0.8860)^x ))/3----2
sub 2 into 1
((15.3×(0.8860)^x ))/3=15.3×0.8860^y
5.1×0.8860^x=15.3×0.8860^y
(5.1×0.8860^x)/(5.1)=(15.3×0.8860^y)/(5.1)
0.8860^x=3×0.8860^y
ln(0.8860^x )=ln(3×0.886〗^y )
x.ln(0.8860)=ln(3)+y.ln(0.8860)
x.ln(0.8860)-y.ln(0.8860)=ln(3)
Thank in advance...