Radioactive Decay of Carbon-14 Quiz

Base your answers to questions on the graph below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The graph shows the decreasing percentage of a radioactive isotope, carbon-14 (¹⁴C), as it decays and the increasing percentage of the disintegration product that forms. Carbon-14 can be used to determine the ages of both a mastodon bone and a human bone, and a lava flow and a granite intrusion. Which of the following pairs can carbon-14 be used to determine the ages of?

• A) quartz crystal and a calcite crystal

• B) lava flow and a granite intrusion

• C) mastodon bone and a human bone

• D) trilobite fossil and a dinosaur fossil

Base your answers to questions on the graph below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The graph shows the decreasing percentage of a radioactive isotope, carbon-14 (¹⁴C), as it decays and the increasing percentage of the disintegration product that forms. What is the disintegration product of this radioactive isotope?

• A) ⁴⁰Ar

• B) ²⁰⁶Pb

• C) ¹⁴N

• D) ⁸⁷Sr

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Base your answers to questions on the graph below and on your knowledge of Earth science. The graph shows the decreasing percentage of a radioactive isotope, carbon-14 (¹⁴C), as it decays and the increasing percentage of the disintegration product that forms. Which percentage of this radioactive isotope remains at the end of 3 half-lives?

• A) 6.25%

• B) 12.5%

• C) 25.0%

• D) 87.5%

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Base your answer to the following question on the cross section below and on your knowledge of Earth science. Letters A through E represent rock units. Letter F represents a geologic feature. Some layers contain index fossils. Carbon-14 was not used to date the trilobite fossils represented in the cross section because these trilobites

• A) were never living organisms

• B) were buried too deep

• C) lived too long ago

• D) became extinct

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

NGSS.MS-LS4-1

The graph below shows the radioactive decay of potassium-40. Approximately what percentage of potassium-40 remains in the 1.0 billion-year-old bedrock of the Hudson Highlands landscape region of New York State?

• A) 10%

• B) 25%

• C) 60%

• D) 75%

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

The iridium-enriched sediment layer was deposited at the end of which geological period?

• Permian

• Paleogene

• Quaternary

• Cretaceous

Approximately how much of the original uranium-238 is left in the sample of zircon crystals?

• 100%

• 50%

• 25%

• 12.5%

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

One reason why carbon-14 was used to determine the age of the woolly rhinoceros tooth was because carbon-14:

• never completely decays

• has a very long half-life

• can be found in most organic remains

• is easily identified in Carboniferous bedrock

The graph below shows the decay of a 50-gram sample of a radioactive isotope over 30 days. The half-life of this radioactive isotope is approximately

• 7.5 days

• 12.5 days

• 15.0 days

• 25.0 days

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

A sample of holmium-166, located deep underground, is subjected to high temperature and pressure. The half-life of this sample of holmium-166 will be:

• A) 13.40 hours

• B) 24.30 hours

• C) 26.80 hours

• D) 28.70 hours

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8