EARTHSC 1100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 21: Alpha Beta Gamma, Radioactive Decay, Geothermal Gradient
3 Apr 2018
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Final exam is not explicitly cumulative, but some things from the rst half of the semester will be referenced. Carbon has 6 protons (and 6 neutrons and 6 electrons) If you add two neutrons, it becomes 14c. Chemically they act the same, but 14c is radioactive. To look at how old something is, you study the radioactive isotopes. Parent refers to the amount of radioactive stu (like 14c) These parents are unstable because there are too many neutrons and it breaks down into a daughter. Nitrogen comes from fusion inside stars, but it"s also created by the breakdown of 14c. Some of it is made from radioactive potassium. Radioactive decay produces heat that provides our geothermal gradient. The rate at which carbon (etc) turns into nitrogen (etc) is xed. Half-life (t1/2): the time is takes for 50% (i. e. , half) of the unstable parent to turn into a stable daughter.
