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carbon-14 dating |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson | 0.03 sec. |
carbon-14 datingor radiocarbon datingMethod of determining the age of once-living material, developed by U.S. physicist Willard Libby in 1947. It depends on the decay of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (radiocarbon) to nitrogen. All living plants and animals continually take in carbon: green plants absorb it in the form of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, and it is passed to animals through the food chain. Some of this carbon is radioactive carbon-14, which slowly decays to the stable isotope nitrogen-14. When an organism dies it stops taking in carbon, so the amount of carbon-14 in its tissues steadily decreases. Because carbon-14 decays at a constant rate, the time since an organism died can be estimated by measuring the amount of radiocarbon in its remains. The method is a useful technique for dating fossils and archaeological specimens from 500 to 50,000 years old and is widely used by geologists, anthropologists, and archaeologists. carbon-14 dating [¦kär·bən ¦fȯr‚tēn ′dād·iŋ] (nucleonics) Determining the approximate age of organic material associated with archeological or fossil artifacts by measuring the rate of radiation of the carbon-14 isotope. Also known as radioactive carbon dating; radiocarbon dating. How to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit webmaster's page for free fun content. |
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| Inside the Scrolls" provides a unique illustrated catalog of the contents of all 11 caves, including detailed analysis of every major scroll, and considers the methods of interpretation employed, including carbon-14 dating, paleography, and computer reconstruction. And carbon-14 dating, using dissolved inorganic carbon-14 in the water, is sometimes used to date water further into the past. An appendix explains carbon-14 dating, and there's an index and a short bibliography of adult sources which would be accessible to some children. |
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