Explain how radioactive dating works, and why it works only with igneous rocks

What will be an ideal response?


Radioactive dating compares the amount of a radio isotope left in a rock with its decay product; the older the rock, the less original radioactive material remains, and the more decay product has built up. Since this rate of decay is steady and predictable, that will let us get the age of an igneous rock. The igneous rocks have not been changed since they crystallized; metamorphic ones have often been heated enough to recrystalize minerals and reset the atomic clock, while sedimentary rocks are mixtures of many specimens of differing ages.

Physics & Space Science

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A weather balloon contains 12.0 m3 of hydrogen gas when it is released from a location at which the temperature is 22°C and the pressure is 101 kPa

It rises to a location where the temperature is -30°C and the pressure is 20 kPa. If the balloon is free to expand so that the pressure of the gas inside is equal to the ambient pressure, what is the new volume of the balloon? A) 14.0 m3 B) 2.38 m3 C) 49.9 m3 D) 82.6 m3 E) 4.16 m3

Physics & Space Science

Superposition of waves can occur

A. in transverse waves. B. in longitudinal waves. C. in sinusoidal waves. D. in all of the above. E. only in (a) and (c) above.

Physics & Space Science

Charge of uniform density (0.30 nC/m2) is distributed over the xy plane, and charge of uniform density (–0.40 nC/m2) is distributed over the yz plane. What is the magnitude of the resulting electric field at any point not in either of the two charged planes?

a. 40 N/C b. 34 N/C c. 28 N/C d. 46 N/C e. 6.0 N/C

Physics & Space Science

Mars undergoes seasons because of its eccentric orbit that carries it to widely different distances from the Sun, and because of its axial tilt which is similar to the Earth's

Indicate whether the statement is true or false

Physics & Space Science