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Carbon Dating

Carbon Dating. By: Alvin Johnson and Derek Horne. What are the differences between carbon-12 and carbon-14?. The difference between carbon-12 and carbon-14 is the # of neutrons in each of the atoms. Carbon-12 is more abundant than carbon-14 because carbon-14 undergoes radioactive decay.

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Carbon Dating

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  1. Carbon Dating By: Alvin Johnson and Derek Horne

  2. What are the differences between carbon-12 and carbon-14? • The difference between carbon-12 and carbon-14 is the # of neutrons in each of the atoms. • Carbon-12 is more abundant than carbon-14 because carbon-14 undergoes radioactive decay. • We use carbon-14 to date certain objects that are 60,000years old or less.

  3. Carbon-14 and the atmosphere • Carbon-14 is produced in the atmosphere when neutrons from cosmic rays reacting with nitrogen atoms. • After carbon-14 is formed its absorbed by plants which then is formed into oxygen which all organisms breathe in.

  4. Fossil Dating • When Living organisms die, they all have the same amount of carbon-14. When scientists find fossils they will measure how much carbon-14 it has left in its body. After they measure the carbon-14 they will put the percentages in the formula and it will find out how long fossils have been in the ground.

  5. Decay reaction of carbon-14 • When carbon-14 is formed it has nitrogen-14 in it which has qualities of gamma radiation. This type of radiation can break down carbon-14. • The half life of carbon-14 is 5730 years which is how long it takes for a half sample to decay.

  6. Limitations • The limitations of using carbon-14 is that you can only date objects back about 60,000 years old. They have found different elements that can date objects back as far as 49,000,000,000+ years.

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