A sample is being dated by the radiocarbon technique. If the sample were uncontaminated, its activity would be 0.064 Bq per gram of carbon. Calculate the true age (in years) of the sample.
Assume the sample is contaminated, so that only 98 percent of its carbon is ancient carbon. The remaining 2 percent is fresh carbon, in the sense that the 6C14 it contains has not had any time to decay. Assuming that the lab technician is unaware of the contamination, find what apparent age (in years) would be determined for the sample? Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5730 years, and an activity of 0.23 Bq per gram of carbon in a living organism.