Radiocarbon “Dates” from Mesozoic Fossils All have had enough 14C to yield radiocarbon “ages” between 9000 and 50,000 years.

What age fossils does carbon-14 dating up to?

500 to 50,000 years old Take the quiz. The carbon-14 method was developed by the American physicist Willard F. Libby about 1946. It has proved to be a versatile technique of dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old.

Can dinosaur bones be dated using carbon-14?

But carbon-14 dating wont work on dinosaur bones. The half-life of carbon-14 is only 5,730 years, so carbon-14 dating is only effective on samples that are less than 50,000 years old. To determine the ages of these specimens, scientists need an isotope with a very long half-life.

What ages of samples can be dated using carbon-14 age dating?

Geologists do not use carbon-based radiometric dating to determine the age of rocks. Carbon dating only works for objects that are younger than about 50,000 years, and most rocks of interest are older than that.

How do we know the age of dinosaurs?

There are two ways to determine the age of a dinosaur fossil. One is called relative geologic time, which involves deciding whether one dinosaur fossil is older or younger than another. The other is often called absolute geologic time, which involves estimating how many millions of years old a dinosaur fossil is.