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The age of a fossil is estimated by measuring radioactivity and the ratio of which isotope to C-12?
AO-16
BN-14
CC-14
DH-1
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. C-14
1. While alive, an organism keeps taking in carbon, so its C-14 level stays steady.
2. After death, carbon intake stops and the radioactive C-14 begins to decay.
3. C-12 is non-radioactive, so it stays constant in the dead body.
4. Therefore the C-14 to C-12 ratio falls steadily after death.
5. Measuring C-14 radioactivity and this ratio gives the fossil's age, called carbon dating.
6. So the isotope compared with C-12 is C-14.
7. Trap (O-16): oxygen-16 is stable and not used for this dating.
8. Trap (N-14): nitrogen-14 is the decay product, not the measured ratio against C-12.
9. Trap (H-1): hydrogen-1 plays no role in carbon dating.
_Source: Balbharati (Maharashtra Board) Class 10 Science & Technology Part 2, Ch 1 "Heredity and Evolution", p.15_
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