Reference no: EM131611005

Question: The amount of radioactive carbon-14 in a sample is measured using a Geiger counter, which records each disintegration of an atom. Living tissue disintegrates at a rate of about 13.5 atoms per minute per gram of carbon. In 1977 a charcoal fragment found at Stonehenge, England, recorded 8.2 disintegrations per minute per gram of carbon. Assuming that the half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years and that the charcoal was formed during the building of the site, estimate the date at which Stonehenge was built.