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What is the accuracy of dating a 500 year old seed and a 1000000 year old bone with carbon 14 dating?
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Only the seed could be effectively dated using C14. The bone, at one million years old, is far outside the range for which carbon dating is effective. Once the Carbon 14 within a sample has decayed significantly it becomes impossible to measure the remaining amount and establish an age. Currently, using modern methods we can date items using carbon dating up to around 60,000 years before present.
The seed, superficially would be a good candidate for carbon dating, however because of it's age and the process of calibrating radiocarbon dates into calender years there would be quite a large range of dates. If you were to test the seed (assuming is was 500years old) a calibrated age would likely be something like 590-400 years before present with a 95% chance of the age falling within that range, or 430-550 years before present with a 68% chance of the age falling within that range.
It is impossible to give a perfect answer to this question without actually having a sample and testing it. Quite often it is possible to be more specific than this, and you typically find dates given within a few decades, although there are variations. When results from a sample come back from a laboratory you may be given several date ranges, each with an associated probability. It is up to the researcher which they feel is accurate enough to include in publication or interpretation.
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∙ 14y ago
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What is a worked example of carbon dating?
For example the age of a fossil bone.
What type of bone is the ilium?
flat bone
What are the three methods of archaeology?
Archaeology, the study of human history through the excavation and analysis of artifacts and structures, utilizes various dating techniques to determine the age of archaeological finds. Some of the different types of dating techniques in archaeology include: Relative dating: This technique involves determining the relative age of artifacts or archaeological sites in comparison to one another without assigning specific chronological dates. Relative dating techniques include stratigraphy, which involves studying the layers of soil or rock to determine the sequence of deposition and the relative age of artifacts within those layers, and seriation, which involves arranging artifacts based on changes in style or design over time. Absolute dating: This technique provides a specific chronological age for artifacts or archaeological sites. Absolute dating techniques include: Radiocarbon dating (also known as Carbon-14 dating): This method is used to determine the age of organic materials, such as wood, charcoal, and bone, up to approximately 50,000 years old. It is based on the decay of the radioactive isotope Carbon-14, which is absorbed by living organisms during their lifetime and decays at a known rate after death. Dendrochronology (tree-ring dating): This method uses the growth rings of trees to establish a sequence of years, which can then be correlated with archaeological samples to determine their age. This method is particularly useful for dating wooden artifacts or structures. Thermoluminescence dating: This method is used to date materials that were heated in the past, such as ceramics and burnt stones. It relies on the fact that certain minerals accumulate energy over time through exposure to natural radiation, and when heated, they release this stored energy in the form of light, which can be measured to determine the time since the material was last heated. Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating: This method is similar to thermoluminescence dating, but it measures the accumulated energy in sediments rather than heated materials. It is used to date sediments, such as those found in caves or buried archaeological sites. Potassium-Argon dating: This method is used to date volcanic rocks and minerals that contain potassium, which decays to argon at a known rate. It is commonly used to date hominid fossils and early human artifacts. These are some of the main dating techniques used in archaeology to determine the age of archaeological finds. Archaeologists often use a combination of relative and absolute dating techniques to establish a more comprehensive understanding of the chronological context of archaeological materials and sites.
What an artifact is.?
fossilzed bone
What bone sits in the olecranon fossa?
The Ulna bone of the arm sits in the olecranon fossa of the Humerus: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ulna
What is a worked example of carbon dating?
For example the age of a fossil bone.
What isotope is used to determine age of bone?
carbon dating... i think i just learned this in grade 10 chem this week haha
Which item could be dated using radiocarbon dating?
Carbon dating can be used on material which was living in the last few tens of thousands of years, The first kind are datings of things that should't be carbon dated are charcol and wood.
Why is carbon 14 used in radioactive dating?
Carbon-14 dating is a way of determining the age of certain archaeological artifacts of a biological origin up to about 50,000 years old. It is used in dating things such as bone, cloth, wood and plant fibers that were created in the relatively recent past by human activities.
Accuracy of bonescan diagnosing osteoarthritis?
3D bone scans are become very popular because of their accuracy in this field.
Why is carbon dating ineffective in determining the age of a dinosaur bone?
Carbon-14 isotope dating is only effective up to about 70,000 years. Dinosaur bones are at least 65 million years old. Elements with much longer half-lives are used to radiometrically date rock associated with dinosaur remains.
What could carbon-14 dating be used?
Short Answer:Carbon 14 dating can only be used on objects which were once living things (plant or animal). Typically, the object must be less than 50,000 or so years old. Otherwise the carbon 14 has decayed to such a low level that the detection becomes difficult.More:Living creatures constantly exchange carbon in their bodies with carbon from the atmosphere and so the isotopic concentration of carbon 14 in a plant or animal is the same as the concentration of the atmosphere. That stops, of course, when the creature dies. Since carbon 14 is radioactive, the fraction of carbon 14 in the remains of the creature will decrease over thousands of years. By measuring how much is left, the date the the creature died can be measured with some degree of accuracy.
Why can carbon dating not be used to date old knives?
While carbon-14 dating cannot be used to date the knife itself, because it is metal and thus not a once living thing (steel does contain carbon, but this carbon may be from trees or coal and is not easily separated from the iron for testing). However if the knife has a handle made of natural organic material (e.g, wood, bone, antler, ivory) this handle can be carbon-14 dated to obtain an estimate of the age of the knife.
Would carbon 14 dating be an effective tool to determine whether a dinosaur bone is from the Mesozoic era?
No, because carbon-14 completely decays after 60,000 years. Dinosaurs died out 65.5 million years ago, so all of the carbon-14 in their fossils has long since disappeared.
Why are bones studied when trying to determine the origins of birds?
It depends on what they are studying. As far as age goes, carbon content, or carbon dating. Scientists can measure the carbon content in a birds bones and come to there conclusion of how long ago it lived. They also could be looking at it for comparative reasons, such as, a bird in Asia's bone density would be different than a similar species in North America:-)
What can scientists tell from the amount of carbon 14 in a human bone?
Its presence in organic materials is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method to date archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological samples. In a nutshell it can tell how old things are.
Why is carbon called the back bone of organice molecules?
carbon is the back bone of organics molecules because it catenate. it's chain is a straight chain.
