Courses
Courses for Kids
Free study material
Offline Centres
More
Store Icon
Store
seo-qna
SearchIcon
banner

Half-life period of \[{{\mathbf{C}}^{{\mathbf{14}}}}\] in years is
A) \[{\mathbf{500}}\]
B) \[{\mathbf{5000}}\]
C) \[{\mathbf{50}}\]
D) \[{\mathbf{50}} \times {\mathbf{1}}{{\mathbf{0}}^{\mathbf{4}}}\]

Answer
VerifiedVerified
562.8k+ views
Hint: In the given question we will understand the half-life of the carbon 14. In the atmosphere there is an abundance of carbon gas. As it is a radioactive isotope of carbon. As the carbon14 occurs in the form of very trace amounts

Complete step-by-step answer:
It is one of the isotopes of carbon. \[{{\mathbf{C}}^{{\mathbf{14}}}}\] is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus having 6 numbers of protons and 8 numbers of neutrons containing in it. It is also known as radiocarbon or\[^{14}C\]. carbon14 occurs in the form of trace amounts which build-up about \[1{\text{ }}to{\text{ }}1.5\] atoms per \[{10^{12}}\;\] atoms of carbon in the whole atmosphere. Carbon14 decays into nitrogen14 through a process known as beta decay.

Carbon-14 goes through radioactive beta decay in which they process by emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino or an antiparticle, and one of the neutrons in the carbon-14 atom decays to a proton and the carbon-14 decays into the stable which is non-radioactive isotope of nitrogen-14. Thus the carbon 14 has proved to be a very flexible and adaptive technique o which is versatile for dating the fossils along with archaeological specimens which are 500 to 50,000 years old.

From the above stated line we can say that the half-period of \[{{\mathbf{C}}^{{\mathbf{14}}}}\] is 5000 years. It is used in the determination of age of fossils by using a technique called carbon dating.

Hence, the correct answer is option ‘B’.

Note: Radiocarbon dating is a method of age determination that might depend upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (carbon-14). Carbon-14 is repeatedly formed in the atmosphere by the interaction of neutrons along with nitrogen-14 in the Earth’s atmosphere therefore the neutrons required for this reaction are produced by interaction of cosmic rays with the atmosphere of the earth.