The Great Gatsby8 essays

The Great Gatsby8 essays In the novel The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald, Jay Gatsby is a mysterious man living in the West Egg district of Long Island. Gatsby is extremely wealthy and owns a mansion with a large swimming pool, a fancy car, and dozens of servants. Every Saturday night, he throws extravagant parties which many people, most of whom haven't even been invited, attend. No one really knows anything about Gatsby, except that he is rich and generous. However, many rumors are created about him. Some say that he was a German spy during the war and some say that he killed a man. As the summer progresses, Nick Carraway the narrator who is also Gatsby's neighbor, learns more about who Gatsby really is, or rather who he isn't and reasons why he lives his life as he does. Nick doesn't approve of Gatsby's lifestyle and the way he earns his money, but nevertheless he sees Gatsby as superior to those who surround him. Nick admires the romantic hope that motivates Gatsby to pursue his dreams. Jay Gatsby's greatness is a result of his naive belief that he can make his dreams a reality. In the beginning of the novel, Nick sums up Gatsby's character and the reasons why he respects him. "...Gatsby who represented everything for which I have an unaffected scorn. If personality is an unbroken series of successful gestures, then there was something gorgeous about him...This responsiveness had nothing to do with that flabby impressionability which is dignified under the name if the 'creative temperament'it was an extraordinary gift for hope, a romantic readiness such as I have never found in any other person and which is not likely I shall ever find again."(6) Nick makes it very clear that he doesn't agree with the way Gatsby makes and uses his money. Although Nick comes from a very wealthy family himself, he was taught to work hard for his money. Nevertheless, he does find himself admiring Gatsby. He values Gatsby's hope, no matter how false...

How Carbon-14 Is Used To Date Artifacts

How Carbon-14 Is Used To Date Artifacts In the 1950s W.F. Libby and others (University of Chicago) devised a method of estimating the age of organic material based on the decay rate of carbon-14. Carbon-14 dating can be used on objects ranging from a few hundred years old to 50,000 years old. What Is Carbon-14? Carbon-14 is produced in the atmosphere when neutrons from cosmic radiation react with nitrogen atoms: 147N 10n → 146C 11H Free carbon, including the carbon-14 produced in this reaction, can react to form carbon dioxide, a component of air. Atmospheric carbon dioxide, CO2, has a steady-state concentration of about one atom of carbon-14 per every 1012 atoms of carbon-12. Living plants and animals that eat plants (like people) take in carbon dioxide and have the same 14C/12C ratio as the atmosphere. However, when a plant or animal dies, it stops taking in carbon as food or air. The radioactive decay of the carbon that is already present starts to change the ratio of 14C/12C. By measuring how much the ratio is lowered, it is possible to make an estimate of how much time has passed since the plant or animal lived. The decay of carbon-14 is: 146C → 147N 0-1e (half-life is 5720 years) Example Problem A scrap of paper taken from the Dead Sea Scrolls was found to have a 14C/12C ratio of 0.795 times that found in plants living today. Estimate the age of the scroll. Solution The half-life of carbon-14 is known to be 5720 years.​ Radioactive decay is a first order rate process, which means the reaction proceeds according to the following equation: log10 X0/X kt / 2.30 where X0 is the quantity of radioactive material at time zero, X is the amount remaining after time t, and k is the first order rate constant, which is a characteristic of the isotope undergoing decay. Decay rates are usually expressed in terms of their half-life instead of the first order rate constant, where k 0.693 / t1/2 so for this problem: k 0.693 / 5720 years 1.21 x 10-4/year log X0 / X [(1.21 x 10-4/year] x t] / 2.30 X 0.795 X0, so log X0 / X log 1.000/0.795 log 1.26 0.100 therefore, 0.100 [(1.21 x 10-4/year) x t] / 2.30 t 1900 years