standard_description: Apply and extend previous understandings of division to divide unit fractions by whole numbers and whole numbers by unit fractions. (Students able to multiply fractions in general can develop strategies to divide fractions in general, by reasoning about the relationship between multiplication and division. But division of a fraction by a fraction is not a requirement at this grade.)
problem_activity: Task
Carbon 14 is a form of carbon which decays exponentially over
time.
The amount
of Carbon 14 contained in a preserved plant is modeled
by the equation
$$
f(t) = 10\left(\frac{1}{2}\right)^{ct}.
$$
Time in this equation is measured in years
from the moment when the plant dies ($t = 0$) and the amount of Carbon 14 remaining in the preserved plant is measured in micrograms
(a microgram is one millionth of a gram).  The number $c$ in the exponential
measures the exponential rate of decay of Carbon $14$.
How many micrograms  of Carbon $14$ are in the plant at the time it died?
The best known estimate for the half-life of Carbon 14, that is the amount of time it takes for half of the
Carbon $14$ to decay, is $5730 \pm 40$ years.   Use this information to
calculate the range of possible values for the constant $c$ in the equation for $f$.
Use your answer from part (b) to find the range of years when there is
one microgram remaining in the preserved plant.


aligns: no