Example problems of carbon dating

Answer 1

The benefits of carbon dating is that it can give a guide as to the age of an artifact or fossil. Several problems exist with carbon dating.

First, it only goes back so far. After a while, there is not enough radioactive carbon for the machinery to measure.

Second, a sample may be contaminated. If a person picked it up with his bare hands, some of the carbon from his skin may have mixed with the sample.

Third, if you want to know how long ago a cave was first occupied, you may miss the mark completely. People may have used the same garbage dump for over a million years.

Answer 2

1. Determine the age of a fossil by measuring the amount of radioactive carbon-14 it contains compared to the stable carbon-12.
2. Estimate the age of an archaeological artifact by analyzing the decay of carbon-14 isotopes in organic materials like wood or bone.
3. Calculate the age of a sample of ancient plant material by measuring the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 and using the known half-life of carbon-14.

Answer 3

For example dating of bones or woods.