A special chemical is added to the sample that produces tiny specks of light called scintillations when carbon-14 atoms decay. A special detector called a spectrometer can see these specks and, with the aid of a computer program, can count them and determine the date of the sample.

How are artifacts carbon dated?

Radiocarbon dating is the most common method by far, according to experts. This method involves measuring quantities of carbon-14, a radioactive carbon isotope — or version of an atom with a different number of neutrons. Carbon-14 is ubiquitous in the environment.

How do scientists use carbon 14 dating to determine a date for an artifact?

Carbon dating is used by archeologists to date trees, plants, and animal remains; as well as human artifacts made from wood and leather; because these items are generally younger than 50,000 years. Scientists can determine how long ago an organism died by measuring how much carbon-14 is left relative to the carbon-12.

Will carbon 14 dating work on all artifacts?

Will Carbon-14 dating work on all artifacts? No. There are a few categories of artifacts that cannot be dated using carbon-14. First, carbon-14 cannot be used to date biological artifacts of organisms that did not get thier carbon dioxide from the air.

How is c14 used to date fossils?

The Carbon 14 (C-14) dating method is a radiometric dating method. A radiometric dating uses the known rate of decay of radioactive isotopes to date an object. Each radioactive isotope has a known, fixed rate of decay, which we call a half-life. Once C-14 is produced, it starts to decay back to nitrogen.