Carbon-14 and nuclear reaction webercise.

The purpose of this activity is to learn about key concepts in radioactive decay,
in particular carbon-14, and how and why it is used to estimate ages of material.

Instructions:

There are 4 key concepts within this webercise with a total of 100 points possible. Each concept is designated with an
orange colored row with given online resources for each and total points in each concept.

Read the concept and instructions.

1. Review the resource material online for each block of questions

2. Answer each question and complete each activity.
3. Submit the answers and exhibits online using the provided link.
4. The material provided should be sufficient to answer the questions but you are free to use other material as you see fit
to provide even more robust answers.

Score:

 Points are noted for each question.

 For robust answers to the questions, you should be providing at least 50+ words per answer block.
 Please feel free to attach additional sheets with visuals and equations as needed – ensure they are submitted as one
document upload and label the visuals for the question they are answering.
 A visual by itself is insufficient to get credit for the question – you must provide a narrative on what the visual is and
how it answers the question.
 Please cite the source of any content as needed.
 Only content submitted thru the link on the webpage will be accepted for grading.

KEY CONCEPTS AND ACTIVITIES RESOURCES POINTS

Answer the questions in this column. Use the resources in this column. View the videos and 100 points
use screen grabs of any gizmos or online calculators. in this
assignment.
WHAT’S AN ISOTOPE? LINK TO KHAN ACADEMY 20
Review the video and answer the questions below.
1. What are the key differences between elements
and their isotopes? Compare and contrast carbon- 10
12 and carbon-14
2. How do you designate an isotope from the base
element using subscripts and superscripts? Show 10
examples using hydrogen and two of its isotopes?
WHAT IS RADIOACTIVE DECAY? LINK TO RADIOACTIVE DECAY ARTICLE
Review the article in the link and answer the
questions below. Use the gizmo in the link in 25
question 4.
3. What is nuclear radiation and what are the three
major types? Describe each and then state the key 5
differences?
4. Describe what happens when uranium 235 LINK TO GIZMO
undergoes alpha particle emission. Use the gizmo 10
on nuclear radiation and post a screen capture of
putting in the correct equation for the alpha
emission.
5. Knowing what you now know of nuclear
radiation, what type of protection would you need
from each of the three major types of radiation? 10
Why would this be appropriate for that form of
radiation and not for other types?
WHAT IS A HALF LIFE? LINK TO INTRO TO HALF LIFE VIDEO
Watch the video in the link to the right and then 25
answer the questions below.
6. What does the term half life mean and what
does it signify in terms of time and mass? 10
7. The half life of carbon-14 is 5,730 years. If you
started with 128 grams of carbon-14, how much
would be left after 8 half lives? Show your 15
calculations and then create a graph the results of
time vs grams for each half life.
WHAT IS CARBON DATING AND ITS USES? OVERVIEW VIDEO OF CARBON DATING
Review the video and the article on carbon dating 30
and answer the questions below. ARTICLE ON CARBON DATING
8. Why is carbon-14 used to estimate how old a
fossil is? 5
9. What are the pro’s and con’s of using carbon-
14? 10
10. What isotopes could you use to estimate the
age of items given in the range below. Why would
that isotope be a good choice?
1,000 – 50,000 years old 10
100,000 – 1,000,000 years old
Older than 1,000,000,000 years old
11. Complete the visual carbon-14 lifecycle. Label
each key step of the process by how carbon-14 is
made, enters living organisms and undergoes 5
decay. Show the process from the sun to being in
fossils. Upload the completed visual as part of your
submission.