Which statement describes potassium-argon dating? Potassium-40 decays into argon gas over time. Argon breaks down into other elements and compounds. Potassium-40 becomes stable when trapped in rocks.

Which characteristics of potassium makes it useful for dating rocks?

Potassium-40 is highly unstable and found to be present in many rocks. It has a very long half-life which is about 1.3 billion years and gives an accurate age of the rocks.