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LoginRadiocarbon Dating. Carbon has unique properties that are essential for life on earth. How C is Produced 1. Carbon is made when cosmic rays knock neutrons out of atomic nuclei in the upper atmosphere. The displaced neutrons, now moving fast, hit ordinary nitrogen 14N at lower altitudes, converting it into 14C.
When we speak of the element Carbon, we most often refer to the most naturally abundant stable isotope 12 C. Although 12 C is definitely essential to life, its unstable sister isotope 14 C has become of extreme importance to the science world. Radiocarbon dating is the process of determining the age of a sample by examining the amount of 14 C remaining against its known half-life, 5, years. The reason this process works is because when organisms are alive, they are constantly replenishing their 14 C supply through respiration, providing them with a constant amount of the isotope.
Carbon dating determines the age of organic material by measuring the amount of carbon remaining in the material. Carbon is continually produced in the atmosphere and absorbed by plants and animals during life. After death, the amount of carbon decreases steadily as it decays, allowing the age of once-living materials to be estimated by measuring the amount remaining. The half-life of carbon is about years, so its levels are measured to calculate elapsed time since death. Carbon dating is widely used in archaeology and geology to estimate the age of ancient living things. Read less.
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