Carbon-14 levels in a sample are undetectable after approximately 9 half lives
Explanation;
The half life of Carbon-14 is 5,730 years . Half life is the time taken by a radioactive material to decay by half of its original mass. Therefore, it would take a time of 5730 years for a sample of 100 g of carbon-14 to decay to 50 grams
A period of 50,000 years, is equivalent to;
50,000÷5,730
= 8.73 half lives
Which is approximately equal to 9 half lives.
Therefore, if the age of an object older than 50,000 years cannot be determined by radiocarbon dating, then Carbon-14 levels in a sample are undetectable after approximately 9 half lives.
