Carbon dating works by determining the amount of carbon-14 in archeological artifacts of a biological origin.
All living things take in carbon. When they die, they stop taking in new carbon.
The ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 at the moment of death is the same for every living thing.
But the carbon-14 decays with a half-life of 5730 years, while the amount of carbon-12 remains constant in the sample.
You can determine the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in the sample and compare it to the ratio in a living organism. Then you can determine the age of the object.
After ten half-lives (57 000 years), only about 0.1 % of the original carbon-14 will remain. So that is the limit of reliability for carbon dating.
A formula to calculate the age ##t## of a sample by carbon dating is:
##t = -ln(N_t/N_0)/ln2 × t_½##
where ##t_½## is the half-life and ##(N_t/N_0)## is the percent of carbon-14 in the sample compared to that in living tissue.
If you had a fossil with 10 percent carbon-14 compared to a living sample, then
##t = -ln0.1/ln2 × “5730 yr” = 2.303/0.6931 × “5730 yr” = “3.322 × 5730 yr” = “19 000 yr”##
The sample is 19 000 yr old.
Select your paper details and see how much our professional writing services will cost.
Our custom human-written papers from top essay writers are always free from plagiarism.
Your data and payment info stay secured every time you get our help from an essay writer.
Your money is safe with us. If your plans change, you can get it sent back to your card.
We offer more than just hand-crafted papers customized for you. Here are more of our greatest perks.
Get instant answers to the questions that students ask most often.
See full FAQ