You are on page 1of 2

Licorice Lab Radioactive Decay

Activity: You will model and calculate radioactive decay and practice
radioactive dating. Things to remember: When a radioactive isotope
decays it is changing to a stable form.

Carbon 14 (C-14) converts to Carbon 12 (C-12) when it decays. The
half-life of C-14 is 5730 yrs. In this activity you will model this C-14
decay with licorice. One piece of licorice is your original sample
containing C-14.

Follow your teachers lead as you do this activity! Every 30 seconds,
5730 years passes and half of your licorice sample decays. You will
divide your licorice in half and mark the location that your sample is on
the graph. Eat the other half!! After 30 seconds, repeat.
Data Table:
Half-life /Time (s) Length of Licorice (cm)
0/0s










Graphing:

1. Now graph your data on the graph paper provided
2. You will make a line graph, plotting length (amount) vs. time
(1/2 life)
3. Dont forget to connect the plot points!!

Lab Analysis:
1. How long (in sec) did it take to get your sample too small to cut
in half?


2. At that point, how old was your sample in years? Show your
work.


3. Is there anytime that all of a particular sample of radioactive
material will completely become stable (hint: hit zero on your
graph)? Explain your reasoning.



4. How can radioactive dating be helpful for scientists?


5. What is one reason that scientists are not able to identify the
age of animals over 1 million years old using C-14 dating?



LEFT- 1
LEFT- 2
*If you see an asterisk look it up on your phone!
*




Licorice Radioactive Decay Graph





Practice Problems:

1. An archaeologist found a tooth that resembles those found on
saber-toothed cats. The original amount of C-14 was 100g.
There is now 0.05 g in the sample of C-14.

a. How old is the tooth? (Show your work, you should create
a chart, like your data table on page 1)






b. Using the classroom timeline, what other organisms
existed at the same time in geologic history?








2. A crystal was tested by radioactive dating using Potassium 40,
which has a half-life of 1,300,000,000 yrs. The sample originally
had 10g of Potassium 40, but now has only 1.25g of K-40.

a. How old is this crystal? (Show your work, you should
create a chart, like your data table on page 1)






b. Using the classroom timeline, how does the age of this
fossil compare to when life was found on earth?























LEFT- 3 LEFT- 4
*
Use your chart you created to nd it!

You might also like