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The age limits for radiocarbon dating anything is about 100-40,000 years.

However, to date the early hominid fossils that have been found in Africa scientists have used Argon/Argon dating to date the volcanic lava and ash it was buried between. The age limits of Argon/Argon dating are 1,000 to the oldest rocks on earth.

Generally, you never really date the item of interest when figuring out the age. You will date items that it was used with, buried with, cooked with, etc. Many different dating methods are used to date the items and the age limits vary between each method.

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12y ago
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12y ago

It depends on the material and the processes involved but normally about 50,000 years, which is why radiocarbon dating is mostly used by archaeologists. Geologists mainly use isotopic dating.

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Q: What is the age limit for radiocarbon dating of fossils?
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Radiocarbon dating would be useful in dating the age of the earth?

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.


Used to date fossils in rocks to give an approximate age?

Radiocarbon Dating.


Explain how radiocarbon dating of fossils and artifacts differs from thermoluminescence dating?

Radiocarbon dating measures the decay of carbon-14 to determine the age of organic materials up to about 50,000 years old, while thermoluminescence dating measures the trapped electrons in soil or pottery to date inorganic materials up to hundreds of thousands of years old. Radiocarbon dating is limited by the availability of organic material, while thermoluminescence dating is limited by the environment in which the artifacts were buried.


Can radiocarbon dating be used to determine the age of pottery?

No. radio carbon dating is only efficient for the fossils of plants or animals. As pottery is an abiotic substance its age cannot be determined by carbon dating


Can radiocarbon dating be used to determine the age of dinosaur fossils?

No, radiocarbon dating cannot be used to determine the age of dinosaur fossils because the half-life of carbon-14 is too short for dating objects that are millions of years old. Instead, other dating methods like uranium-lead dating or potassium-argon dating are used for dating dinosaur fossils.


Can radiocarbon dating be used to find the age of rocks in the grand canyon?

yes because radiocarbon finds the age of things such as rocks, bones and fossels +++ As its name suggests it can only test carbon compounds - generally organic - and it won't date rocks or most fossils.


What is the history of radiocarbon dating?

Radiocarbon dating was developed by Willard Libby in the 1940s. It revolutionized archaeology by allowing accurate dating of organic materials up to approximately 50,000 years old based on the decay of the isotope carbon-14. This method has been instrumental in dating archaeological sites, determining the age of ancient artifacts, and understanding the timeline of human evolution.


How the age of plant and animal fossils is determined?

The age of a plant or animal in a fossil is determined by radiocarbon dating. This means scientists measure the amount of a special type of carbon in the fossil, to determine the date.


Does radiocarbon dating determine the age of the earth?

No, radiocarbon dating is used to determine the age of organic materials up to around 50,000 years old. To determine the age of Earth, scientists use other methods like uranium-lead dating of rocks or meteorites, which provide an estimate of about 4.5 billion years.


Radiocarbon dating is used to date?

No. radio carbon dating is only efficient for the fossils of plants or animals. As pottery is an abiotic substance its age cannot be determined by carbon dating


Can scientists radiocarbon dating to find the age of a very tall old redwood tree living in an old forest?

No. Radiocarbon dating can only be used to date the age of biological objects that are dead.


Radiocarbon dating is only accurate for objects no more than?

Radiocarbon dating is only accurate for objects up to about 50,000 years old, as the amount of carbon-14 left in the sample becomes too small to measure accurately beyond that point. Beyond this age limit, other dating methods such as potassium-argon dating or luminescence dating may be used to determine the age of older objects.