A Sample of Wood Has Been Recovered by an Archaeologist

question 60

Multiple Choice

A sample of wood has been recovered by an archaeologist. The sample is sent to a laboratory, where it is determined that the activity of the sample is 0.144 Bq/g. By comparing this activity with
The activity of living organic matter, which is 0.230 Bq/g, the scientist determines how old the wood
Sample is, or more precisely, when the tree that the sample came from died. Carbon-14 has a
Half-life of 5730 years. If the activity of living matter has been constant over time, how old is the
Sample of wood?

• A) 3870 years
• B) 4590 years
• C) 2630 years
• D) 4250 years
• E) 2940 years

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Definitions:

Short-Term Memory

The part of the memory system that temporarily holds a limited amount of information for a brief period.

Digits

Numerals (0-9) used in numerical systems, or the fingers and toes of hands and feet.

Recall

A cognitive process of retrieving previously learned or experienced information.

Brown-Peterson Task

A cognitive exercise used to assess short-term memory and attention span by having individuals try to remember trigrams or three-letter combinations after various distractions and intervals.