Code Number: 7D10.23

Demo Title: Radioactive Dating - Carbon Dating

Condition: Excellent

Principle: Radioactive Decay

Area of Study: Modern Physics

Equipment: 

Co-60 sources with different manufacturing dates, Counter / Scaler.

Procedure:

Cobalt-60 has a well known half life.  By taking the counts from a new source and then an older source, you should be able to know exactly how much older the old source is. 

References:

  • Thomas B. Greenslade Jr., "Exponential Decay Experiments", TPT, Vol. 62, #9, Dec. 2024, p. 738.
  • Todd Brown, "A Simple Example of Radioactive Dating", TPT, Vol. 52, # 2, Feb. 2014, p. 115.
  • Christine Middleton, "Trapped-atom Analysis Pushes Calcium-41 onto the Radiometric Dating Scene", Physics Today, Vol. 76, #5, May 2023, p. 17.