Reference no: EM132604416

How does carbon-14's half-life change the amount of carbon-14 in a sample taken from a dead organism over time?

It takes 5,730 years for half of the carbon-14 in the sample to decay, another 5,730 years for half of what remains to decay, and so on until all of the carbon-14 has decayed.

In 60,000 years, half the carbon-14 in the sample reverts to carbon-12, and in the next 60,000 years, the remaining half of the original carbon-14 becomes carbon-12.

Every 5,730 years, half the nitrogen remaining in the sample decays into carbon-14 until after 60,000 years all the nitrogen in the sample has been converted to carbon-14.

Over the course of 5,730 years all the carbon-14 in the sample decays, with the sample losing half the carbon-14 still remaining in the sample every 50 years.