1. illustrate the concept of half-life.
Radioactive Dating
Purpose: The purpose of this activity is to simulate the process of radioactive decay and to
illustrate the concept of half-life.

2. Discussion
Many people have heard the term "half-life" and know that it is related to radioactive elements. The half-life of an element is the time it takes half of the radioactive atoms to decay. Half-life is defined as; "The time required for half of any given amount of a radioactive substance (Parent Atoms) to decay into another substance (Daughter Atoms)". Radioactive decay is a constant process where the unstable radioactive element breaks down to become a more stable element by releasing radioactive particles and radiation. In this lab you will use M&Ms to simulate how atoms radioactively decay and how rocks of different ages have different amounts of radioactive and decayed elements.

3. Background Information: Testing of radioactive minerals in rocks best determines the absolute age of the rock.
In radiometric dating, different isotopes of elements are used depending on the predicted age of the igneous rocks. Potassium/Argon dating is good for rocks 100,000 years old since Potassium 40 has a half-life of 1.3 billion years! Uranium/Lead dating is used for the most ancient rocks, since U-238 has a half-life of 4.47 billion years. By comparing the percentage of an original element (parent atom) to the percentage of the decay element (daughter atom), the age of a rock can be calculated. The ratio of the two atom types is a direct function of its age because when the rock was formed, it had all parent atoms and no daughter atoms.

4. Absolute Dating uses the decay rate of radioactive isotopes in rocks to determine the exact ages of the strata.
Each isotope has its own decay rate
EXAMPLES:
K40 decays to Ar over a half life of 1.3 billion years
U238 decays to Pb206 over a half life of 4.5 billion years
Rb87 decays to Sr87 over half life of 49 billion years
C14 decays to N over a half life of 5,730 years

5. Data Table Time (# of shakes) Half Lives Number of “undecayed”
radioactive atoms
remaining with the “M” side up. “Parent” atoms.
Number of undecayed atoms in your group. 50
100 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6. Procedures
Before you begin, wash your hands and then spread out a sheet of butcher paper on your lab table.
2. Obtain a cup of M&Ms and count the total number of M&Ms in the cup. Record this number on your data table. Do not eat any of the M&Ms until you’ve completed the experiment!
3. For the rest of the experiment, we’re making the following assumptions:
• The M&M candies are now atoms of a radioactive element called “M&Mium.”
• When the white “M” is facing upward, the atom has not yet decayed.
• When the white “M” is facing downward, the atom has decayed.

7. Procedures
4. Pour the M&Ms in a plastic cup, cover and shake vigorously. Then, pour the M&Ms onto the butcher paper on your lab table. Be careful not to spill the M&Ms or allow them to touch the lab table. Keep the candy on the butcher paper at all times. 5. Remove the M&Ms that have decayed (the M&Ms with the “M” face down) and set them aside. Count how many undecayed (radioactive) atoms remain and record this number in your data table. 6. Place the remaining undecayed M&Ms in your plastic cup. Repeat steps 4 and 5 until you’ve completed your data table. At this point, you should have data for a total of 5 half-lives. 7. Following your teacher’s instructions, pool your data with the rest of the class and record the totals in your data table.

10. Data Analysis Please use the graph below.
Create two different lines (one for your data and one for the group).

11. Your line graph should look similar to the one below but not the same
Your line graph should look similar to the one below but not the same. Remember you started with 50 not 100 atoms and only went to 10 shakes.

12. Analysis Questions
1. What do the M&M's represent? 2. How much of a radioactive element becomes stable in a half-life? 3. What is the half-life of M&Mium? (What number of shakes are necessary to reduce the radioactive members to one-half?) 4. Will the amount of radioactive substance ever be zero? Justify your answer. 5. How do scientists use the amount of radioactive elements found in rocks to determine the actual age of the rock? 6. Which is more accurate; relative or absolute dating?

14. Change Over Time
Directions: Write each statement. Then, Mark an “A” next to the statement if it is about absolute dating and an “R” next to the statement if the statement is about relative dating.
Bill’s brother is 24 years old. ____
Tonya is younger than her sister. ____
Out of four children, Sam is the second youngest. ____
Isaiah was born 15 years ago. ____
A rock contains a radioactive element with a half-life of 200 million years. Tests show that the element in the rock has gone through three half-lives. How old is the rock?
What is the difference between relative and absolute dating?