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1.406z"></path> </svg></span></span> </button></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></header> <div id="inner-wrap" class="wrap kt-clear"> <div id="primary" class="content-area"> <div class="content-container site-container"> <main id="main" class="site-main" role="main"> <div class="content-wrap"> <article id="post-2558" class="entry content-bg single-entry post-2558 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-evolution-and-tree-of-life category-life-science mv-content-wrapper"> <div class="entry-content-wrap"> <header class="entry-header post-title title-align-center title-tablet-align-center title-mobile-align-inherit"> <div class="kadence-breadcrumbs yoast-bc-wrap"><span><span><a href="https://earthhow.com/">Home</a></span> 禄 <span><a href="https://earthhow.com/category/life-science/">Life Science</a></span> 禄 <span><a href="https://earthhow.com/category/life-science/evolution-and-tree-of-life/">Evolution and Tree of Life</a></span> 禄 <span class="breadcrumb_last" aria-current="page">Carbon Dating: How Radioactive Isotopes Estimate Age</span></span></div><h1 class="entry-title">Carbon Dating: How Radioactive Isotopes Estimate Age</h1><div class="entry-meta entry-meta-divider-customicon"> <div class="meta-comments"><span class="kadence-svg-iconset"><svg class="kadence-svg-icon kadence-comments-alt-svg" fill="currentColor" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="28" height="28" viewBox="0 0 28 28"><title>Comments</title><path d="M10 14c0 1.109-0.891 2-2 2s-2-0.891-2-2 0.891-2 2-2 2 0.891 2 2zM16 14c0 1.109-0.891 2-2 2s-2-0.891-2-2 0.891-2 2-2 2 0.891 2 2zM22 14c0 1.109-0.891 2-2 2s-2-0.891-2-2 0.891-2 2-2 2 0.891 2 2zM14 6c-6.5 0-12 3.656-12 8 0 2.328 1.563 4.547 4.266 6.078l1.359 0.781-0.422 1.5c-0.297 1.109-0.688 1.969-1.094 2.688 1.578-0.656 3.016-1.547 4.297-2.672l0.672-0.594 0.891 0.094c0.672 0.078 1.359 0.125 2.031 0.125 6.5 0 12-3.656 12-8s-5.5-8-12-8zM28 14c0 5.531-6.266 10-14 10-0.766 0-1.531-0.047-2.266-0.125-2.047 1.813-4.484 3.094-7.187 3.781-0.562 0.156-1.172 0.266-1.781 0.344h-0.078c-0.313 0-0.594-0.25-0.672-0.594v-0.016c-0.078-0.391 0.187-0.625 0.422-0.906 0.984-1.109 2.109-2.047 2.844-4.656-3.219-1.828-5.281-4.656-5.281-7.828 0-5.516 6.266-10 14-10v0c7.734 0 14 4.484 14 10z"></path> </svg></span><a class="meta-comments-link anchor-scroll" href="#comments">3 Comments</a></div></div></header> <div class="entry-content single-content"> <figure class="wp-block-image is-style-default"><img fetchpriority="high" decoding="async" width="678" height="378" src="https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Carbon-Dating-678x378.png" alt="Carbon Dating" class="wp-image-2560"/></figure> <div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--30)"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">What is carbon dating?</h3> <p>Since the discovery of carbon dating, it has revolutionized our understanding of our planet. For example, we can finally put a date on prehistoric life forms and rock strata.</p> <p>By understanding how old things are, we can organize events in chronological order. Not only do archaeologists use carbon dating for excavated artifacts, but geologists use it for stratigraphy.</p> <p>Now that you have a basic understanding, let’s get into the details of how carbon dating works.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>“Carbon dating reveals the age of fossils by measuring radiocarbon. Carbon dating measures the ratio between two naturally occurring types of carbon – carbon-12 and carbon-14.”</p> </blockquote> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/></div></div><div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">How carbon dating estimates age</h3> <p>Carbon dating considers two naturally occurring types of carbon on Earth:</p> <ul class="wp-block-list"> <li>Carbon-12 (C12) is stable with 6 protons and 6 neutrons.</li> <li>Carbon-14 (C14) is a radioactive isotope with 6 protons and 8 neutrons.</li> </ul> <p>Living organisms are constantly taking in carbon-12 and carbon-14. In fact, the types of carbon in our bodies correlate with the amount of carbon-12 and carbon-14 in the atmosphere.</p> <p>If you look at our atmosphere, about 99% of carbon is carbon-12. But there are only trace amounts of carbon-14. And the amount of C14 in any living thing is pretty consistent.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>“When an organism dies, carbon-14 drops at a predictable rate. After 5,730 years, it contains half the carbon-14 as it did when it was alive. So, it has a half-life of 5,730卤40 years.”</p> </blockquote> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/></div></div><div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">How does the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 determine age?</h3> <div class="wp-block-image is-style-default"> <figure class="alignright"><img decoding="async" width="290" height="300" src="https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Carbon-Dating-290x300.png" alt="Carbon Dating" class="wp-image-1678" srcset="https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Carbon-Dating-290x300.png 290w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Carbon-Dating.png 407w" sizes="(max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px"/></figure></div><p>When an organism dies, it ceases to take in carbon from the atmosphere. So right before it dies, it starts with the same amount of carbon-12 and carbon-14 in the atmosphere at the time. This is why we look at the ratio between C14 and C12.</p> <p>If the atmosphere had a C14/C12 of 0.01%, then a C14/C12 of 0.005% means it died about 5,730 years ago. This is because carbon-14 decays into nitrogen-14 with a half-life of 5,730卤40 years.</p> <p>Then, at 11,460 years old carbon-14 would go down to 0.0025%. All throughout, carbon-12 in the <a href="https://earthhow.com/fossil-records/">fossil records</a> stays constant. But every 5,730 years, half of the carbon-14 decays.</p> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/> <blockquote class="wp-block-quote has-text-align-center is-style-large is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow"> <p>“In summary, when you take a sample from a fossil, carbon-12 remains fixed. But carbon-14 decays predictably over time. By examining the ratio between the two for dead matter, we can estimate age.”</p> </blockquote> <hr class="wp-block-separator has-css-opacity is-style-default"/></div></div><div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">What are the limitations of carbon dating?</h3> <p>Despite the revolutionary impact that carbon dating has given to date organic matter, it has its limitations. For example, it needs enough carbon-14 remaining in an organism to make an accurate estimate.</p> <p>At a certain age (60,000 years or so), there isn鈥檛 enough carbon-14 to reliably put a date on prehistoric life. In addition, we can only use carbon dating on <a href="https://earthhow.com/nutrient-cycle/">organic matter</a>. Whereas materials such as metals cannot be carbon-dated.</p> <p>Finally, we know that the interaction between <a href="https://earthhow.com/solar-radiation-electromagnetic/">cosmic radiation</a> and CO<sub>2</sub> creates carbon-14. But it鈥檚 difficult to put an exact number on how much carbon-14 was in the atmosphere when it died.</p> <p>If you look at <a href="https://earthhow.com/atmosphere-history/">Earth’s atmospheric history</a>, its composition has changed significantly over time. But scientists have their ways to figure it out.</p></div></div><div class="wp-block-group" style="padding-top:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50);padding-bottom:var(--wp--preset--spacing--50)"><div class="wp-block-group__inner-container is-layout-constrained wp-block-group-is-layout-constrained"> <h3 class="wp-block-heading">Carbon Dating: How Radioactive Isotopes Estimate Age</h3> <p>Carbon dating is a form of radiometric dating that analyzes the chemical composition of organic materials to determine their age.</p> <p>It works by comparing the proportion of stable carbon-14 isotopes and non-radiogenic, or radiocarbon-free, carbon-12 isotopes within a sample because of how the ratio of these two isotopes shifts over time.</p> <p>Do you have any questions about carbon dating? 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class="entry-content"></div><footer class="kt-blocks-post-footer"><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-left"></div><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-right"></div></footer></div></div></article><article class="kt-blocks-post-grid-item post-484 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-life-science category-natural-environment mv-content-wrapper"><div class="kt-blocks-post-grid-item-inner-wrap kt-feat-image-align-left kt-feat-image-mobile-align-side"><div class="kadence-post-image"><div class="kadence-post-image-intrisic kt-image-ratio-66-67" style="padding-bottom:66.67%;"><div class="kadence-post-image-inner-intrisic"><a href="https://earthhow.com/carbon-cycle/" aria-label="Read More What Is the Carbon Cycle? 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Photosynthesis, Decomposition, Respiration and Combustion</a></h6><div class="kt-blocks-post-top-meta"></div></header><div class="entry-content"></div><footer class="kt-blocks-post-footer"><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-left"></div><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-right"></div></footer></div></div></article><article class="kt-blocks-post-grid-item post-2597 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-life-science category-natural-environment mv-content-wrapper"><div class="kt-blocks-post-grid-item-inner-wrap kt-feat-image-align-left kt-feat-image-mobile-align-side"><div class="kadence-post-image"><div class="kadence-post-image-intrisic kt-image-ratio-66-67" style="padding-bottom:66.67%;"><div class="kadence-post-image-inner-intrisic"><a href="https://earthhow.com/net-primary-productivity/" aria-label="Read More What is Net Primary Productivity for Earth?" class="kadence-post-image-inner-wrap"><img width="300" height="225" src="https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-300x225.png" class="attachment-medium size-medium wp-post-image" alt="Net primary productivity - Earth metabolism" decoding="async" loading="lazy" srcset="https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-300x225.png 300w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-675x507.png 675w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-425x319.png 425w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-550x413.png 550w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism.png 678w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-326x245.png 326w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-80x60.png 80w, https://earthhow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Earth-Metabolism-267x200.png 267w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"/></a></div></div></div><div class="kt-blocks-post-grid-item-inner"><header><h6 class="entry-title"><a href="https://earthhow.com/net-primary-productivity/">What is Net Primary Productivity for Earth?</a></h6><div class="kt-blocks-post-top-meta"></div></header><div class="entry-content"></div><footer class="kt-blocks-post-footer"><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-left"></div><div class="kt-blocks-post-footer-right"></div></footer></div></div></article></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></article> <div id="comments" class="comments-area"> <h2 class="comments-title">3 Comments</h2> <ol class="comment-list"> <li id="comment-27307" class="comment even thread-even depth-1"> <article id="div-comment-27307" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <b class="fn">Alex</b> <span class="says">says:</span></div><div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://earthhow.com/carbon-dating/#comment-27307"><time datetime="2024-01-10T12:26:38-06:00">January 10, 2024 at 12:26 pm</time></a></div></footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>Can we use Carbon 12 and Carbon 14 to determine the oldest people on earth?</p></div></article> </li> <li id="comment-25057" class="comment odd alt thread-odd thread-alt depth-1"> <article id="div-comment-25057" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <b class="fn">MMcKee</b> <span class="says">says:</span></div><div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://earthhow.com/carbon-dating/#comment-25057"><time datetime="2023-11-21T07:34:32-06:00">November 21, 2023 at 7:34 am</time></a></div></footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>Now that we have evidence of many C14 spikes within tree-ring data over the past 10,000 years or so, it would seem that the assumption of C14/C12 having a consistent ratio in the atmosphere is incorrect. This dating technique will need to allow for these atmospheric anomalies, if the results are to be believed.</p></div></article> </li> <li id="comment-8247" class="comment even thread-even depth-1"> <article id="div-comment-8247" class="comment-body"> <footer class="comment-meta"> <div class="comment-author vcard"> <b class="fn">David Stuart</b> <span class="says">says:</span></div><div class="comment-metadata"> <a href="https://earthhow.com/carbon-dating/#comment-8247"><time datetime="2021-06-15T15:23:20-06:00">June 15, 2021 at 3:23 pm</time></a></div></footer> <div class="comment-content"> <p>There seems to be an inconsistency in the calculation(s).<br /> The top of the article suggests that the isotopic abundance of Carbon 14 in the atmosphere + hence living matter is ~1%, but in the worked example, it appears to be 2 orders of magnitude lower, at 0.01%.<br /> Can you please confirm which is correct?</p></div></article> </li> </ol> <div id="respond" class="comment-respond"> <h3 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