1 / 11

Understanding Radioactive Decay: A Bean Lab Experiment for Dating Fossils

In this engaging lab activity, students model radioactive decay using beans to represent uranium atoms. Through a series of trials, participants will simulate the process of radioactive dating, observe decay patterns, and graph their results. The lab introduces concepts of absolute and relative dating, and the difference between radioactive and stable isotopes. Students will analyze their findings, explore the accuracy of dating methods, and reflect on how initial quantities of atoms affect results. Uncover the scientific principles behind dating rocks and fossils!

crete
Télécharger la présentation

Understanding Radioactive Decay: A Bean Lab Experiment for Dating Fossils

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Bean decay lab

  2. How do scientists use radioactive decay or absolute age to date fossils and artifacts? • How accurate do you think absolute dating would be? Give me a time frame.

  3. In this lab you are going to start with 100 beans. The beans represent Uranium atoms. For this lab you will model how radioactive dating works. • Count your atoms and make sure you have 100 • Place them in the box with all them on the white facing side. • Close the lid and shake the box • Open the box and count the atoms that have the black side up. After you finish remove them from the box and graph your results. • Repeat steps 3 and 4 until you get down to 1 or 0.

  4. Problem: How many half-lives does it take Uranium to turn into lead Hypothesis: Materials: Beans, container with lid

  5. Create a graph like this in your notebook

  6. Bean Decay lab Questions • Was your hypothesis correct? Has your definition of “decayed” changed? If so how? • At the end of each half-life (trial) , approximately what percentage are the atoms “decaying”? • 3. Does the amount of time you shake the box affect the outcome? • 4. Do the number of atoms you start with affect the outcome? Explain. For example if we only used 50 beans, would my data be different • 5. How do you think absolute dating differs from relative dating?

  7. Look at the class master graph… • Why doesn’t everyone have the same results? • What can this tell us about the accuracy of half lives?

  8. How old is old? • Scientists use several strategies to determine age of rocks and fossils. • Relative Age: age of an object compared to another- “I am older than you” • Absolute Age: actual age of an object or how long ago an event occurred by using radioactive dating. • Radiometric Dating: measures the absolute age of an object using time or the rate of decay for a radioactive element (located in fossils) in a rock

  9. So what is Radioactive? • Radioactive is the breakdown of an elements isotope/atom. • Isotope/atom – matter with different amounts of neutrons or electrons • The rate of change or breakdown of elements is measured in Half-lifes. • Stable = not decayed • Unstable= decayed

  10. A look at half lifes

  11. Try This!!If Carbon has a half life of 5730 years; how much will be left after 3 half lives?

More Related