answersLogoWhite

0

Because it won't work very well. The radiometric dating methods associated with uranium-lead cannot measure changes as "short" as 1 million years with much accuracy. There won't have been much radioactive decay of uranium in "just" 1 million years to make the test a good one and allow us to do an accurate assessment. Oh, we can count atoms fairly accurately. But remember that a half-life is the amount of time it takes half an amount of an unstable nuclide to decay, and the smaller the sample of the unstable nuclide, the "less accurate" the half-life figure is. Let's look. A whole bunch of radioactive material, 120Wm has a half life of 1 year. (Yes, that's a made-up element.) That means in a year, half of the material has decayed. But if you have just two atoms at the start, they could both be gone in a month, or they could both still be here two or three years from now. You just don't know. Half-lives are based on "gross quantities" of material. And because the amounts of material we trace are so small, accuracy falls of due to the (small) quantity of the counted material faster than the accuracy falls off for our ability to count it. Perhaps a rough comparison would be like using a stop watch to measure the speed of a bullet. The stop watch can clock us running the 100 meters pretty well, but it is "slower" than the bullet by quite a bit, and it cannot help determine the speed of the projectile with much accuracy.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?

Continue Learning about Earth Science

Which isotope would you use the estimate something that was about 1 million years old?

One isotope commonly used to estimate objects around 1 million years old is uranium-238, which has a half-life of about 4.5 billion years. By measuring the ratio of uranium-238 to its decay product lead-206 in a sample, scientists can determine its age.


Would the uraniumlead method of radiometric dating be appro- priate for determining the absolute age of a rock that is estimated to be between 1 million and 2 million years old?

Yes, the uranium-lead method is appropriate for determining the absolute age of a rock that is estimated to be between 1 million and 2 million years old. Uranium-lead dating is commonly used for rocks of this age range due to the half-lives of the isotopes involved and their suitability for dating geological materials over long timescales.


How is the age of ancient artifacts determined using carbon dating isotope?

Carbon dating is a method used to determine the age of ancient artifacts by measuring the amount of a radioactive isotope called carbon-14 in the object. This isotope decays at a known rate over time, allowing scientists to calculate the age of the artifact based on the amount of carbon-14 remaining.


How can radioactive half-life be used to date fossils?

Depending on the estimated age of the fossil, a specific isotope can be traced and measured. When a scientist knows the existing amount of the radioactive isotope, the half-life is used in the form of exponential functions to determine the amount of time the fossil must have existed outside of the body in order to lose the amount of material that has been lost over time. This can be done because scientists normally know how much of the isotope should exist in the fossil when it was first created


How does the radiocarbon dating method determine the age of organic materials?

Radiocarbon dating measures the amount of carbon-14 in organic materials to determine their age. Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope that decays at a known rate over time. By comparing the amount of carbon-14 in a sample to the amount in the atmosphere, scientists can calculate how long ago the organism died.

Related Questions

How can one determine which isotope is most abundant in a given sample?

To determine the most abundant isotope in a sample, scientists use a technique called mass spectrometry. This method measures the mass-to-charge ratio of isotopes in the sample, allowing researchers to identify the isotope that appears in the highest abundance.


Which isotope would you use the estimate something that was about 1 million years old?

One isotope commonly used to estimate objects around 1 million years old is uranium-238, which has a half-life of about 4.5 billion years. By measuring the ratio of uranium-238 to its decay product lead-206 in a sample, scientists can determine its age.


Would the uraniumlead method of radiometric dating be appro- priate for determining the absolute age of a rock that is estimated to be between 1 million and 2 million years old?

Yes, the uranium-lead method is appropriate for determining the absolute age of a rock that is estimated to be between 1 million and 2 million years old. Uranium-lead dating is commonly used for rocks of this age range due to the half-lives of the isotopes involved and their suitability for dating geological materials over long timescales.


How do scientist use radioactive isotopes for radioactive dating?

Scientists use radioactive isotopes in minerals to determine the age of rocks and fossils through a process called radiometric dating. By measuring the ratio of the parent isotope to the daughter isotope, scientists can calculate the age of a sample based on the known decay rate of the radioactive isotope. This method is commonly used in geology, archaeology, and paleontology to determine the age of Earth materials.


What is a method used to determine the absolute age of a sample by measuring the relative amounts of parent isotope and daughter isotope?

Good question! In the late 1800s, a british archelologist found clay pots from a layer of rock and rubble in Tel-Helasy . He later compared them to other pots that his family owned and discovered a new form of dating layers of rock. He used this method on other relics from the ancient world; this method is still used today.


How is the age of ancient artifacts determined using carbon dating isotope?

Carbon dating is a method used to determine the age of ancient artifacts by measuring the amount of a radioactive isotope called carbon-14 in the object. This isotope decays at a known rate over time, allowing scientists to calculate the age of the artifact based on the amount of carbon-14 remaining.


How do scientists use half lives to determine age?

Scientists use the concept of half-life to determine the age of a sample by measuring the remaining amount of a radioactive isotope in the sample. By knowing the half-life of the isotope and the initial amount present, they can calculate how much time has passed since the sample was formed. This method is commonly used in radiometric dating of rocks, fossils, and other materials.


What is the dating method that uses a measure of decaying carbon?

Carbon-24 radiodating. It detects and analyzes the half-lives of elements in an item and compares it to a carbon-24 isotope.


What are two ways scientist determine age?

Scientists determine the age of objects or organisms through radiometric dating, which measures the decay of radioactive isotopes, or through dendrochronology, which analyzes the patterns of tree rings to determine age.


How can radioactive half-life be used to date fossils?

Depending on the estimated age of the fossil, a specific isotope can be traced and measured. When a scientist knows the existing amount of the radioactive isotope, the half-life is used in the form of exponential functions to determine the amount of time the fossil must have existed outside of the body in order to lose the amount of material that has been lost over time. This can be done because scientists normally know how much of the isotope should exist in the fossil when it was first created


The method used to determine the epicenter of an earthquake is called?

earth method


What is directive method?

Its a method to determine high resistance. Hope that helps.