What is Carbon 14 Dating? What is it used for?

Question

What is Carbon 14 Dating?  What is it used for?

Owen Atkinson · Accepted Answer

Carbon-14 dating is process of determining the age of archaeological artifacts.

Up to roughly 50,000 years old, some biologically derived archaeological artifacts (such as remnants of plants, fiber, wood, or bone) can be aged using carbon-14 dating. A fossil is 11460 years old if it contains, say, 25% more carbon-14 than the living sample (because it contains one-fourth as much carbon, it is 5730*2=11460 years old). General formula for time #t# is #(5730/-0.693)ln(N_t/N_0)#. As in the above example #(N_t/N_0=0.25)# and #ln0.25=-1.386# #t=(5730/-0.693)*(-1.386)=5730*2=11460# years.

Clara Avalos · Answer

undefined The technique of carbon-14 dating, also referred to as radiocarbon dating, is based on measuring the rate at which carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon, decays within a sample. Carbon-14 is continuously produced in the atmosphere and is absorbed by living things through photosynthesis or consumption of other organisms; after an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon-14, and the remaining carbon-14 starts to decay at a known rate. Scientists can determine the age of a sample by measuring its remaining carbon-14 content and comparing it to the initial amount found in the atmosphere. Carbon-14 dating is frequently employed in geology, archaeology