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Radiocarbon dating cannot be used to determine the age of fossils or "of the earth" because these materials no longer have radiocarbon or have negligible amount of radiocarbon.

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14y ago
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1w ago

Radiocarbon dating is not typically used to determine the age of the Earth because it can only accurately date organic materials up to around 50,000 years old. Other dating methods, such as radiometric dating of rocks and minerals, are used to estimate the age of the Earth, around 4.5 billion years.

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Q: Radiocarbon dating would be useful in dating the age of the earth?
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Continue Learning about Archaeology

Could radiocarbon dating be used to determine the age of a stone artifact?

Radiocarbon dating is typically used to date organic materials that were once alive, like wood or bone, but not stone artifacts. Stones do not contain carbon that can be dated, so alternative methods, such as luminescence dating or stratigraphic analysis, would be more appropriate for determining their age.


How long does radiocarbon dating take to get an answer?

Radiocarbon dating typically takes 1-2 weeks to get a result, although this can vary depending on the laboratory and the number of samples being processed. The precision and accuracy of the dating also depend on factors like the condition of the sample and the calibration curve used.


How old is the tollund man today?

The Tollund Man is estimated to have lived around 2400 years ago, based on radiocarbon dating. This would make him around 2400 years old if he were alive today.


How can an archaeologist estimate the age of the artifact or findings?

The only way I know of is carbon dating. Which according to Wikipedia is:Radiocarbon dating, or carbon dating, is a radiometric dating method that uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to determine the age of carbonaceous materials up to about 60,000 years. Raw, i.e. uncalibrated, radiocarbon ages are usually reported in radiocarbon years "Before Present" (BP), "Present" being defined as AD 1950. Such raw ages can be calibrated to give calendar dates.One of the most frequent uses of radiocarbon dating is to estimate the age of organic remains from archaeological sites. When plants fix atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) into organic material during photosynthesis they incorporate a quantity of 14C that approximately matches the level of this isotope in the atmosphere (a small difference occurs because of isotope fractionation, but this is corrected after laboratory analysis). After plants die or they are consumed by other organisms (for example, by humans or other animals) the 14C fraction of this organic material declines at a fixed exponential rate due to the radioactive decay of 14C. Comparing the remaining 14C fraction of a sample to that expected from atmospheric 14C allows the age of the sample to be estimated.The technique of radiocarbon dating was developed by Willard Libby and his colleagues at the University of Chicago in 1949. Emilio Segrè asserted in his autobiography that Enrico Fermi suggested the concept to Libby in a seminar at Chicago that year. Libby estimated that the steady state radioactivity concentration of exchangeable carbon-14 would be about 14 disintegrations per minute (dpm) per gram. In 1960, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in chemistry for this work. He first demonstrated the accuracy of radiocarbon dating by accurately estimating the age of wood from an ancient Egyptian royal barge for which the age was known from historical documents.Hope this helps :)


How do you date an artifact?

To date an artifact, archaeologists use various methods such as radiocarbon dating, dendrochronology, pottery typology, stratigraphy, and seriation. These techniques help determine the age of the artifact based on its context, material composition, form, and associated finds. Combining multiple dating methods can provide a more accurate estimate of an artifact's age.

Related questions

What method would archaeologists use to date the remains of cro-magnons?

Radiocarbon dating.


How long does radiocarbon dating take to get an answer?

Radiocarbon dating typically takes 1-2 weeks to get a result, although this can vary depending on the laboratory and the number of samples being processed. The precision and accuracy of the dating also depend on factors like the condition of the sample and the calibration curve used.


How would you date a neanderthal fossil?

Radiocarbon testing.


How does carbon dating prove a young earth?

Carbon-dating can not be used to prove the age of the earth, so it can not be used either to prove a "young earth" nor to support the scientific age of the earth. Carbon-dating is useful for archaeology, where it can date evidence of human artefacts up to fifty thousand years old. Some less less informed "Young Earth" creationists do believe that carbon-dating was used to date the earth. They attempt, unsuccessfully, to undermine the science of carbon-dating in the belief that by doing so they undermine the scientific age of the earth, rather than because they constructively prove their point. The best estimates of the age of the earth have been arrived at by radioactive dating, but not by carbon-dating. Had techniques of radioactive dating not been invented, other known methods of dating the earth would prove that the world is more than a few million years old. Some of these are described in the related question, attached below.


How is the age of pottery determined?

The age of pottery can be determined through various methods, including radiocarbon dating, thermoluminescence dating, and stratigraphic analysis. These techniques help archaeologists establish the approximate age of the pottery by analyzing the materials used in its creation and its context within the archaeological site.


A sample best dated with radiocarbon would be a?

prehistoric wooden tool


Would a screen be useful to separate earth powder and gravel?

Yes


Would a compass be useful on a spaceship in outer space?

No. A compass is a useful tool on Earth because the needle aligns with Earth's magnetic field and we know the shape of that field. There would be no such field in outer space.


A sample best dated using radiocarbon would be a?

Rocky Mountain granite


What is the system of dating centered on?

I would say The coming of Jesus Christ to earth.


What is the dating system centered on?

I would say The coming of Jesus Christ to earth.


Why would a screen be useful for separating a mixture of gravel and diatomaceous -earth powder?

no