logarithms (carbon dating 2)

LOGARITHMS & CARBON DATING ANDREW LEE, RYAN WONG, JOSHUA TAN

STORY •  Anubis statue (made of wood) in dog form up

for sale. •  Supposedly from King Tut’s dynasty, around

1320BC

•  Determine age of statue by using carbon dating

CARBON DATING •  Uses decay of carbon-14 to estimate the age

of organic materials (such as wood or leather) •  Effective up to 62000 BC •  Used to date many items such as Dead Sea

Scrolls and Shroud of Turin

WHERE DO LOGARITHMS COME IN?

LOGARITHMS IN CARBON DATING

•  Method of carbon dating works upon fact that the proportion of carbon-14 atoms decreases at known constant rate

•  Use amount of carbon-14 atoms to find how long organic matter has been “dead”

•  Here, logarithms come in as we can use exponential decay graphs to find out time when sample died.

MIND = BLOWN

MORE INFORMATION •  Formula  for  carbon  14  da0ng:    

CASE STUDY A

•  Formula:  

•  Carbon dating 60% carbon 14 compared to living sample

CASE STUDY A

•  Formula:  

•  Carbon dating 99% carbon 14 compared to living sample

RYAN SAYS THANKS