Question

A paleontologist finds a bone that might be a sauropod’s bone. In the laboratory, she finds that the Carbon-14
found in the bone is 1/10 of that found in a living bone tissue. Could this bone have belonged to a sauropod?
Explain your reasoning. (Hint: The sauropods lived from 200 million years ago to 145 million years ago. The
constant for Carbon-14 is 0.00012.)
a. No, because the amount of Carbon-14 found indicates a period before the sauropods even
came into existence.
b. No, because the amount of Carbon-14 found indicates a period after the sauropods became
extinct.
c. Yes, because the number of years calculated is in the range of 200 million years and 145
million years ago.
d. Yes, because the amount of Carbon-14 found in the bone is one-tenth of that found in a
living bone tissue.

Answer 1

A paleontologist finds a bone that might be a sauropod’s bone. In the laboratory, she finds that the Carbon-14  found in the bone is 1/10 of that found in a living bone tissue.

As the sauropods lived from 200 million years ago to 145 million years ago and the  constant for Carbon-14 is 0.00012.

The Carbon - 14 decays with a half-life of about 5800 years.

By substituting the given values in this equation, y = ae^{-kt}, we can say that,

The option b is correct, as it states,

"No, because the amount of Carbon-14 found indicates a period after the sauropods became  extinct."