Radioactive

Question 1

What is the reactant in radioactive decay called?

Answer 1

The parent isotope

Question 2

What is the product in radioactive decay called?

Answer 2

The daughter isotope

Question 3

What is given off during radioactive decay?

Answer 3

Radiation

Question 4

Radiation is given off during what process?

Answer 4

Radioactive decay

Question 5

What happens to the parent isotope during radioactive decay?

Answer 5

Parent isotope decreases exponentially

Question 6

the intersection of a radioactive decay graph marks the

Answer 6

Half life (represented as the x-value. Pay close attention to scale).

Question 7

Half life

Answer 7

The time required for a quantity to reduce to half of its initial value.

Question 8

The half life of an isotope of an element is

Answer 8

constant.

Question 9

Different isotopes of the same elements have different

Answer 9

half lives

Question 10

The daughter isotope is more ___ than the parent isotope

Answer 10

stable

Question 11

Absolute dating

Answer 11

Calculates an age in years for geologic materials by measuring the presence of a radioactive element. Can give rocks an actual (exact) date or date range in number of years.

Question 12

Lots of rocks contain ______ minerals that can be used to date the rock.

Answer 12

radioactive

Question 13

Why are some atoms radioactive?

Answer 13

The nucleus is unstable because there are too many nuetrons. It can no longer hold configuration, so it releases some nuetrons to become stable.

Question 14

First step to absolute dating

Answer 14

Add the grams of recent sample to determine original grams of the parent isotope in rock when formed.

Question 15

Second step to absolute dating

Answer 15

Half the starting amount until you reach the number in the same (determine how many half lives have passed)

Question 16

Third step to absolute dating

Answer 16

Multiply the number of half lives that have passed by the half life time

Question 17

What kind of rock does absolute dating work best on?

Answer 17

Igneous rocks. gneous rocks are formed when magma cools. Because its cooling rock forms at the same time, all crystals are the same age.

Question 18

Why is sedimentary rock hard to absolute date?

Answer 18

Deposition and cementation of material within bodies of water and at the surface of the earth (sediments) could be coming from different places, and could be different ages. You would end up dating the individual grains of sediment comprising the rock, not the rock as a whole. These grains could have radically different ages.

Question 19

Why is metamorphic rock hard to date?

Answer 19

Metamorphic is deep beneath the Earth’s surface, subjected to high temperatures and the great pressure of the rock layers above it = chemistry of rock changes, and the pressure that the rocks are under can occur over long intervals. Thus, different crystal grains can yield different ages. Overall hard)