Scientists find a piece of wood that is thought to be from an ancient fire circle. They find that the wood contains an amount of carbon-14 (14C) that is approximately 1/16 of the current atmospheric 14C levels. Determine approximately how many years ago the tree was chopped down to be used for the firewood. If you started with 1 million carbon-14 atoms, how many atoms would remain in the wood? 14C has a t1/2 of 5,750 years. Show your work!

Question

Scientists find a piece of wood that is thought to be from an ancient fire circle. They find that the wood contains an amount of carbon-14 (14C) that is approximately 1/16 of the current atmospheric 14C levels. Determine approximately how many years ago the tree was chopped down to be used for the firewood. If you started with 1 million carbon-14 atoms, how many atoms would remain in the wood? 14C has a t1/2 of 5,750 years.  Show your work!