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WorksheetsAbsolute Dating
Total questions: 25
Worksheet time: 43mins
Name
Class
Date
1.
Relative Dating dates rocks __________
Absolute Dating dates rocks __________
Absolute Dating dates rocks __________
a)
exact age; sequence
b)
sequence; exact age
c)
exact age; parent isotopes
d)
Laws; Isotopes
2.
Scientists use radioactive decay to measure...
a)
relative time
b)
absolute time
c)
time of day
3.
The length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay is its...
a)
era
b)
age
c)
half-life
d)
eon
4.
The original element that undergoes radioactive decay is known as the...
a)
daughter element
b)
half-life
c)
parent element
5.
Radiometric dating is possible because the rates of decay of radioactive isotopes _____.
a)
change over time
b)
change from place to place
c)
are constant
d)
vary widely
6.
What percent of carbon-14 would be left after 5730 years?
a)
100%
b)
75%
c)
50%
d)
25%
7.
What percent of carbon-14 would be left after 11,460 years? (2 half lives)
a)
100%
b)
75%
c)
50%
d)
25%
8.
If one-fourth of the carbon-14 is remaining then how many half-lives have passed?
a)
1
b)
2
c)
3
d)
4
9.
what's the half life of this substance?
a)
1 day
b)
5 days
c)
9 days
10.
A bone was that originally had 10 grams of Carbon 14 now has about 1.25 grams. How many YEARS have passed? (not half lives)
a)
3
b)
5730
c)
6000
d)
17,200
11.
As time passes, unstable parent materials decays into stable
a)
carbon
b)
daughter material
c)
uranium 238
d)
Argon
12.
An igneous rock that is newly cooled so has had NO time to age will contain
a)
only parent isotopes
b)
only daughter material
c)
an even mix of parent and daughter
d)
can't be determined
13.
If the half-life of a radioactive group of atoms is 100 years, then how old is the rock if the parent decays to 25%?
a)
25 years
b)
200 years
c)
400 years
d)
800 years
14.
Thorium-234 has a half-life of 24 days. If a sample that originally contained 200 grams of thorium-234 now contains only 25 grams, the age of the sample is...
a)
24 days
b)
48 days
c)
72 days
d)
96 days
15.
A rock formed with 1000 atoms of a radioactive parent element, but only contains 250 radioactive parent atoms today. If the half-life of the parent element is one million years, how old is the rock?
a)
250,000 years old
b)
500,000 years old
c)
1,000,000 years old
d)
2,000,000 years old
16.
What is the daughter element of carbon-14?
a)
nitrogen-14
b)
sodium-14
c)
lead-235
d)
carbon-16
17.
The Earth is estimated to be how old?
a)
4.6 Million years old
b)
6,000 years old
c)
4.6 Billion years old
d)
Who knows
18.
Why are isotopes with short half-lives not useful for dating very old rocks?
a)
because not enough of the parent isotope remains to measure accurately
b)
because not enough of the daughter product has formed to be detectable
c)
because neither the parent isotope nor the daughter product will be detectable
d)
because very old rocks would never have contained these isotopes
19.
Using ESRT (A) [Radioactive Decay Data], what is the half-life in standard notation of carbon-14?
a)
5,700 years
b)
57,000 years
c)
570,000 years
d)
5,700,000 years
20.
Using ESRT (A) [Radioactive Decay Data], what is the half-life in standard notation of Uranium-238?
a)
4,500 years
b)
450,000 years
c)
4,500,000 years
d)
4,500,000,000 years
21.
The table shows the radioactive decay of carbon-14. Part of the table has been left blank.
After 22,800 years, approximately what percentage of the original carbon-14 remains?
After 22,800 years, approximately what percentage of the original carbon-14 remains?
a)
15%
b)
12.5%
c)
6.25%
d)
3.125%
22.
Which radioactive isotope takes the greatest amount of time to undergo radioactive decay?
a)
Carbon-14
b)
Potassium-40
c)
Uranium-238
d)
Rubidium-87
23.
The graph shows the decay of a radioactive material over time.
How long does it take for this radioactive material to decay through 2 half-lives?
How long does it take for this radioactive material to decay through 2 half-lives?
a)
1 x 103 years
b)
5 x 103 years
c)
10 x 103 years
d)
40 x 103 years
24.
What is radio active decay?
a)
The preserved remains of an organism.
b)
Atoms in an unstable element break down to form another element.
c)
When things die and their remains are buried.
d)
The time it takes for 1/2 of the radioactive atoms to decay in an element.
25.
If the half-life of a radioactive group of atoms is 100 years, then how old is the rock if there have been ten half-lives?
a)
10 years
b)
100 years
c)
1000 years
d)
10000 years
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