Name ____________________________________________________________ Date ___________

Radioactive Dating

Purpose: To learn about how substances undergo radioactive decay. To practice calculations
and graphing techniques.

Introduction: Radioactive decay is a process in which an unstable nucleus loses energy by

emitting radiation. Radioactive isotopes are unstable atoms that decompose spontaneously
into different types of nuclei. These atoms decompose through various means, such as alpha-
decay, beta-decay, positron-emission, and electron capture.

The decay of atoms takes place at a statistically determined rate, called the half-life,
which is unique to each type of radioactive isotope. Half-life is the amount of time it takes for
one-half of the atoms in a sample of a radioactive isotope to emit radiation and decay into
products. For example, if we have a 10 grams of radioactive sample, we can predict that after
one half-life, we’ll have 5 grams left. Similarly, after two half-lives, only 2.5 grams of radioactive
material will remain. A half-life can range from a fraction of a second to years. Carbon-14,
which is used to determine the age of animal and plant remains, has a half-life of 5,730 years.

Today you will use a radioactive isotope, “Skittlium (Sk),” to practice the concept of half-
life. Skittlium undergoes alpha decay to become the stable atom Blankium (Bl).

Skittlium  Blankium + alpha

Materials: Cup of Sk atoms calculator colored pencils paper towels

Procedure:
1. Obtain a cup of Sk atoms from your instructor. DO NOT EAT THEM AT ANY POINT DURING
THE LAB!
2. Cover your work area with a paper towel. Dump your Sk atoms on the paper towel and
count how many you have. Record this number in Data Table I (Sk atoms at 0 half-lives).
3. Replace the atoms in the cup.
4. Cover the cup with your hand, and gently shake it for 10 seconds. Then dump the atoms
back on to the paper towel.
The atoms that have decayed into stable Bl atoms will show the blank side of the skittle. The
atoms that are still unstable with have an S.
5. Count and remove your Bl atoms from the paper towel (set them onto a different paper
towel). Record the remaining number of Sk atoms and number of Bl in the data table.

6. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you have no Sk atoms left.

Data Table I
# of Half- # of Sk Atoms # of Bl Atoms % of Sk atoms % of Bl atoms
Lives (Running Total)
0
1
2
3
4
5
6

7. Once you have completed all of your half-lives, calculate the percentage of candies in the
original pile and the percentage of candies in the new pile. Use the formulas below and
record in data table I.

% original candies = #original remaining / total original candies

% new candies = # in new pile / total original candies

8. Now that your data chart is filled in, plot your data on the grid provided.
 % of atoms should be on the y-axis
 # of half-lives should be on the x-axis
9. Label the axes with appropriate titles and spread out your scale to use as much space as
possible.
10.You will have TWO lines, each a different color—one for Sk atoms, and the other for the Bl
atoms. DO NOT connect the dots. Draw a best fit curve for the points.
11.Create a legend for each line.

Graph
Analysis:
1. Which atom is the parent atom? Which is the daughter?

2. Would your graph look different if you started with 1,000 atoms instead of 100? Why or
why not.

3. After how many half-lives were the amount of original candies and new candies equal?
_______

4. The relationship between the number of ORIGINAL atoms and the number of half-lives is
[direct or inverse], because as the number of half-lives increases, the number of original
candies [increases or decreases].

5. The relationship between the number of NEW atoms and the number of half-lives is
[direct or inverse] because as the number of half-lives increases, the number of new
candies [increases or decreases].
6. You stopped recording half-lives when you ran out of Skittlium atoms. Is this an accurate
representation of what would happen in nature? Why or why not?

7. Assume that each half-life of Skittlium is equal to 2,500 years instead of 10 seconds.
a. After how many years is 50% of the original candies remaining? _______________

b. After 3 half-lives, what percentage of the original candy is remaining? _____________ How
many years have passed? ___________

8. Iodine-131 is a radioactive substance that can be used to treat certain thyroid conditions. It
has a half-life of 8 days. Your friend with a thyroid condition is given 40 mg of I-131 to
drink. Assuming that all the I-131 stays in her body, how much will remain after 4 half-lives?

9. Your mother will soon undergo some medical testing that will require her to swallow a
radioactive isotope as a tracer. She is nervous about having a radioactive substance in her
body even though the radiologist told her not to worry, as the isotope has a half-life of only
7 minutes. Explain to her what a half-life is, and the significance of the half-life being 7
minutes.