What is carbon dating based on

How Carbon Dating Works

Carbon Dating: Radiocarbon, or carbon 14, is an isotope of the element carbon that is unstable and weakly radioactive. The stable isotopes are carbon 12 and carbon Carbon 14 is continually being formed in the upper atmosphere by the effect of cosmic ray neutrons on nitrogen 14 atoms. It is rapidly oxidized in air to form carbon dioxide and enters the global carbon cycle. Plants and animals assimilate carbon 14 from carbon dioxide throughout their lifetimes.

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Detailed information Detailed information about the method of radiocarbon dating, the active laboratories and the literature is available on the Radiocarbon website. Organisms take up carbon during their life and so obtain the equilibrium value from the environment. During the growth the carbon and its ratio becomes fixed in cells of plants, animals and humans.

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Radiocarbon Dating

Carbon exists in three forms, or isotopes, carbon 12 C , carbon 13 C , and carbon 14 C. Carbon is formed in the upper atmosphere when a neutron in cosmic radiation strikes an atom of nitrogen 14 N and converts it to carbon The rate of decay is such that half the atoms of carbon in a sample decay to nitrogen in approximately years. The modern level is about 1 atom of 14 C in every trillion carbon atoms.

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