The basis of radiocarbon dating is simple: all living things absorb carbon from the atmosphere and food sources around them, including a certain amount of natural, radioactive carbon-14. When the plant or animal dies, they stop absorbing, but the radioactive carbon that theyve accumulated continues to decay.

How is carbon dating used in forensics?

carbon-14 dating (also known as radiocarbon dating) to estimate the age of certain objects. Measuring carbon-14 levels in human tissue could help forensic scientists determine age and year of death in cases involving unidentified human remains.

How is carbon-14 used in the dating of fossil samples?

Carbon-14 dating, also called radiocarbon dating, method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (carbon-14). Because carbon-14 decays at this constant rate, an estimate of the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of its residual radiocarbon.

How can carbon dating be used to determine the age of fossils?

Therefore, by knowing the amount of 14C in fossil remains, you can determine how long ago an organism died by examining the departure of the observed 12C to 14C ratio from the expected ratio for a living organism. Radioactive isotopes, such as 14C, decay exponentially.

How do you know how old fossils are?

To establish the age of a rock or a fossil, researchers use some type of clock to determine the date it was formed. Geologists commonly use radiometric dating methods, based on the natural radioactive decay of certain elements such as potassium and carbon, as reliable clocks to date ancient events.