A Nerdy Scotch-Drinking Physicist, Nicola, Suspected That the 50-Year-Old Scotch

question 106

Short Answer

A nerdy Scotch-drinking physicist, Nicola, suspected that the 50-year-old Scotch she purchased was misrepresented. Reasoning that water must contain the radioactive hydrogen isotope, tritium, because this isotope is produced in the atmosphere by cosmic rays, she decided she could use the tritium concentration in the Scotch to determine when it was bottled. She found that the tritium concentration in the Scotch was only 64% that of the tritium concentration in the water on the Isle of Islay where the Scotch was bottled. How old, really, was this 50-year-old Scotch? The half-life of tritium is 12.3 years.

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Definitions:

Inferential Statistics

A branch of statistics that allows us to make predictions or inferences about a population based on a sample of data.

Observed Difference

The noticeable discrepancy or variation between two or more factors or results that can be empirically measured.

Social Desirability Bias

Social desirability bias is the tendency of respondents to answer questions in a manner that will be viewed favorably by others, often leading to misrepresentation of their true thoughts or feelings.

Water Use

The consumption or utilization of water resources for various purposes including drinking, agriculture, industry, and hygiene.