Who invented carbon dating and why do we believe it?

27. June 2008, 11:35 UhrEarth Sciences & Geologyadmin
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piepiejenkins asked:


They always say how old something is - 3 million years old but who invented carbon dating and is it really accurate?

6 comments:

  1. Dan Soschin, 27. June 2008, 13:22

    Willard Libby.

     
  2. scott_d_webb, 28. June 2008, 7:05

    no one invented it, really. It is a “chemical” reaction.

    All carbon is a mixture of two isotopes (same # protons, different # nutrons) of carbon. As things age, C14 turns into C12. This reaction occurs at a specific rate. By measuring the relative amounts of the two isotopes, scientists can ESTIMATE the age of something.

     
  3. chicagogurl8, 30. June 2008, 6:59

    it is very accurate because the half life of carbon is predictable. simple math can tell you an object’s approximate age just based on the amount of carbon it contains. its a brilliant idea really. you just have to be careful that your sample has not been tainted by any other sources.

     
  4. mountaingym, 1. July 2008, 6:59

    W. F. Libby, 1947. Carbon dating has been compared to a core sample from tree rings and it is a little imprecise. It understates the dates by 5 to 10%. Carbon dating is accurate only to about 70,000 years. We believe it because of the scientific principles upon which it is based.

     
  5. SGT. CECH, 3. July 2008, 16:51

    The Answer to your first question is William Libby CARBON.
    The answer to your second; Because it’s there.

     
  6. iroc70, 6. July 2008, 22:05

    Hi:

    It was introduce by Willard F. Libby in 1947 How it work it like this On Earth most living thing be it plant or animal is made of carbon. However carbon come in two known forms: the most abundant carbon 12 which is stable and the least abundant carbon 14 ( or c-14) which is radioactive due cosmic ray interaction, Okay as you know anything radioactive has a decay constant normally when the animal or plant is alive, it will indisgest new c-14 thru it”s food intake. When they die the c-14 start to decay due to radioactive decay and the fact in not being renewed for obvious reason. By measuring the amount of c-14 in a sample to a known amount that the animal or plant would have had at the time it was alive the age of when the animal or plant can be found when it died. it is a very important tool in science for dating things However there are other methods of dating things like Potassium 40 to Argon 40 which is much more accurate.