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Radioactive Dating Game

The document discusses radioactive dating and half-lives. It provides instructions for a simulation where students can observe radioactive atoms like carbon-14 decaying over time. The simulation allows students to see how half-lives are independent of sample size and to estimate the half-lives of different isotopes like carbon-14 and uranium-238. Students then use their understanding of half-lives to estimate the ages of various objects.

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Yugene Lee
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178 views

Radioactive Dating Game

The document discusses radioactive dating and half-lives. It provides instructions for a simulation where students can observe radioactive atoms like carbon-14 decaying over time. The simulation allows students to see how half-lives are independent of sample size and to estimate the half-lives of different isotopes like carbon-14 and uranium-238. Students then use their understanding of half-lives to estimate the ages of various objects.

Uploaded by

Yugene Lee
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Name: ________________________________

Period: _______________________________

Radioactive Dating Game


Introduction: Dead things decay into simpler molecules. Radioactive particles decay. Is it the same
kind of decay? What does it mean when a substance is radioactive? In this simulation, you will
investigate the concept of half-life. Log on to a computer, open an internet browser, and go to the
following website: http://phet.colorado.edu/

Some handy vocabulary for you to define: (use your notes, your book, or the internet)

Neutron_______________________________________________________________________________________________

Isotope _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Radiometric Dating______________________________________________________________________________________

Half-Life _______________________________________________________________________________________________

Decay (as used in half-life)_________________________________________________________________________________

Carbon-14…what does the “14” represent? ___________________________________________________________________

Procedure: Phet.colorado.eduPlay with the Sims  Chemistry  Radioactive Dating Game

 Take some time and play with the simulation. Those atoms are radioactive! How cool is that?

 Click Add 10 Carbon-14 atoms to the play area. What happens to the Carbon-14
atoms? ________________________________________________________________________________
 Do all Carbon-14’s decay at the same time? ____________________________________________
 Add 50 Carbon-14s. (click five times.) What happens? _______________________________________________

 and Using 20 Carbon-14s, draw the pie graph at the following time periods:

5000 Years 10000 years 15000 years

 Redo the above with 100 Carbon-14 atoms and fill in the three boxes below.

5000 Years 10000 years 15000 years

 How do the pie graphs of 20 atoms compare to those of 100 atoms? ___________________________________________
 Generally, does the size of a radioactive sample affect half-life? __________ Why/Why not? _______________________
Consider Uranium-238...

 Carbon-14’s half-life was measured in thousands (5700) of years. About how long is Uranian-238’s
half-life? _________________________________________________________________________
 Into what atom does Uranium-238 decay? ______________________________________________
 Does the size of the sample of Uranium-238 affect its half-life? _______________________________________________

About that Unknown Element….

 How would you determine the half-life of this unknown element? Write up a little plan here:

 Estimate the half-life of this element. _________ seconds.

Click Observe the decay curves ( % remaining vs time) for Carbon-14 and Uranium-238. Sketch the decay curve for
those isotopes here:

Carbon-14 Uranium-238

Determine how the little Geiger counter works in Measurement and Dating Game.
Estimate the age of each of the following objects in the list below:

Item Estimated Age Item Estimated Age

Analysis questions

1. Why can’t we use Carbon-14 to date the rocks? ___________________________________________________________


2. Why couldn’t the fish fossil or dinosaur skull be dated with either C14 or U238? _________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
3. Could Carbon-14 be used to date a hammer suspected of being used in 3400BC? _________ __________Why/Why not?
___________________________________________________________________________________________________
4. What are two limits to using Carbon-14 dating?

5. Starting with 100 Carbon-14 atoms, how many would you expect to have after one half-life? _____ After three? ______
6. Make a small sketch of what a decay curve may look like for an unknown element.

7. You happen upon an antiques store and the clerk claims that he has a belt that was once worn by Alexander the Great, around
350 BC. You radiocarbon date it and find the percent of carbon to be 75% remaining. Could the belt be genuine?

How did you arrive at your answer?

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