Scientific Skills Exercise

Calibrating a Standard Radioactive Isotope Decay

Curve and Interpreting Data 1.0 c Neanderthal

Fraction of isotope remaining in fossil

How Long Might Neanderthals Have Co-Existed with Modern 0.9 fossils
Humans (Homo sapiens)? Neanderthals (Homo neanderthal-
0.8
ensis) were living in Europe by 350,000 years ago and may have
coexisted with early Homo sapiens in parts of Eurasia for hun- 0.7
dreds or thousands of years before Neanderthals became extinct. 0.6
Researchers sought to more accurately determine the extent of
their overlap by pinning down the latest date Neanderthals still 0.5
lived in the area. They used carbon-14 dating to determine the age 0.4
of a Neanderthal fossil from the most recent (uppermost) archeo-
0.3
logical layer containing Neanderthal bones. In this exercise you will
calibrate a standard carbon-14 decay curve and use it to determine 0.2
the age of this Neanderthal fossil. The age will help you approxi- 0.1
mate the last time the two species may have coexisted at the site
where this fossil was collected. 0
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
How the Experiment Was Done Carbon-14 (14C) is a radioactive Time before present (half-lives)
isotope of carbon that decays to 14N at a constant rate. 14C is pres-
ent in the atmosphere in small amounts at a constant ratio with
Data from R. Pinhasi et al., Revised age of late Neanderthal occupation and the
both 13C and 12C, two other isotopes of carbon. When carbon is end of the Middle Paleolithic in the northern Caucasus, Proceedings of the National
taken up from the atmosphere by a plant during photosynthesis, Academy of Sciences USA 147:8611–8616 (2011). doi 10.1073/pnas.1018938108
12
C, 13C, and 14C isotopes are incorporated into the plant in the
same proportions in which they were present in the atmosphere.
These proportions remain the same in the tissues of an animal that on the graph near arrows pointing to the data points. Convert
eats the plant. While an organism is alive, the 14C in its body con- each fraction to a decimal number and round off to a maxi-
stantly decays to 14N but is constantly replaced by new carbon from mum of three significant digits (zeros at the beginning of the
the environment. Once an organism dies, it stops taking in new number do not count as significant digits). Also write each
14
C but the 14C in its tissues continues to decay, while the 12C in its decimal number in scientific notation.
tissues remains the same because it is not radioactive and does not 2. Recall that 14C has a half-life of 5,730 years. To calibrate the x-axis
decay. Thus, scientists can calculate how long the pool of original for 14C decay, write the time before present in years below each
14
C has been decaying in a fossil by measuring the ratio of 14C to 12C half-life.
and comparing it to the ratio of 14C to 12C present originally in the 3. The researchers found that the Neanderthal fossil had ap-
atmosphere. The fraction of 14C in a fossil compared to the original proximately 0.0078 as much 14C as found originally in the
fraction of 14C can be converted to years because we know that the atmosphere. (a) Using the numbers on your graph, determine
half-life of 14C is 5,730 years—in other words, half of the 14C in a how many half-lives have passed since the Neanderthal died.
fossil decays every 5,730 years. (b) Using your 14C calibration on the x-axis, what is the approx-
Data from the Experiment The researchers found that the imate age of the Neanderthal fossil in years (round off to the
Neanderthal fossil had approximately 0.0078 (or, in scientific no- nearest thousand)? (c) Approximately when did Neanderthals
tation, 7.8 * 10-3) as much 14C as the atmosphere. The following become extinct according to this study? (d) The researchers
questions will guide you through translating this fraction into cite evidence that modern humans (H. sapiens) became estab-
the age of the fossil. lished in the same region as the last Neanderthals approxi-
mately 39,000–42,000 years ago. What does this suggest about
INTERPRET THE DATA possible overlap of Neanderthals and modern humans?
4. Carbon-14 dating works for fossils up to about 75,000 years
1. The graph shows a standard curve of radioactive isotope old; fossils older than that contain too little 14C to be detected.
decay. The line shows the fraction of the radioactive isotope Most dinosaurs went extinct 65.5 million years ago. (a) Can
over time (before the present) in units of half-lives. Recall that 14
C be used to date dinosaur bones? Explain. (b) Radioactive
a half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of the radioac- uranium-235 has a half-life of 704 million years. If it was
tive isotope to decay. Labeling each data point with the corre- incorporated into dinosaur bones, could it be used to date
sponding fractions will help orient you to this graph. Draw an the dinosaur fossils? Explain.
arrow to the data point for half-life = 1 and write the fraction
of 14C that will remain after one half-life. Calculate the frac- Instructors: A version of this Scientific Skills Exercise can be
tion of 14C remaining at each half-life and write the fractions assigned in Mastering Biology.

It takes work to move a given electron farther away from like a ball on a staircase (see Figure 2.6a). The ball can have
the nucleus, so the more distant an electron is from the different amounts of potential energy, depending on which
nucleus, the greater its potential energy. Unlike the continu- step it is on, but it cannot spend much time between the steps.
ous flow of water downhill, changes in the potential energy Similarly, an electron’s potential energy is determined by
of electrons can occur only in steps of fixed amounts. An its energy level. An electron can exist only at certain energy
electron having a certain amount of energy is something levels, not between them.

CHAPTER 2 The Chemical Context of Life 33

URRY8743_12_SE_C02_PRF.indd 33 11/6/19 5:25 AM