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The half-life of carbon is roughly 6000 years. That means that every 6000 years, the amount of Carbon halves. Therefore, in a million years, the amount of carbon-14 would be so low that it would be extremely difficult to determine the exact age of the shell. So radioactive elements of longer half-lives, such as Uranium-238(half-life of 4.9 billion years) are used to date older objects.

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Which items can be dated by isotope carbon 14?

material up to 60 000 years old


What is the half life of carbon-14 and what does this refer to?

The half-life of carbon-14 is about 5700 years. Some sources say 5730, but I don't know the accuracy of that number. In the case of carbon-14, this is the period of time for half the original material to decay to nitrogen-14. This is useful in carbon dating, where the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 and carbon-13 is measured, giving an estimate for the age of a carboniferous (plant material) sample.


Why is uranium 238 dating better than carbon 14 dating?

Uranium-238 dating is better than carbon-14 dating for dating older geological samples because its half-life is much longer (4.5 billion years compared to 5,730 years for carbon-14). This makes it ideal for dating rocks that are billions of years old, whereas carbon-14 dating is best suited for more recent materials up to about 50,000 years old.


What are some problems with carbon 14?

Carbon-14 is naturally created with the interaction of high-energy cosmic rays with atmospheric nitrogen. As part of the atmosphere, living organisms take in the carbon and incorporate this into living tissues. As long as the organism is alive and breathing, it keeps adding new carbon-14. When the organism dies, it stops gaining carbon-14 - or anything else, of course. Carbon-14 is slightly radioactive, with a half-life of about 5700 years. If we assume that the atmospheric production of carbon-14 has been steady for the last 100,000 years, we can calculate the approximate age of when the organism died by determining what percentage of carbon-14 still exists in the dead material. Paleo-archaeologists and anthropologists use this information when studying old cultures and civilizations.


What would 75000 light-years be in kilometers?

Converted to kilometers gives you large numbers, which are best expressed in scientific notation. A light-year is about 9.5 x 1012 kilometers. Multiply that by the number of light-years.

Related Questions

Why cant carbon-14 be used to date material that is older than 75000 years?

Carbon has a half life of 5730 years. That means that after 5730 years there'll only be half the amount left. After about 11500 there will be a quarter of the original. After 75000 years there will be about 0.0001 of the original sample which is too small to date accurately?


Which isotope is useful for dating wood and charcoal that is less than 75000 years old?

carbon- 14


Why can't carbon be used to date all ages of material?

Carbon dating is only reliable up to about 50,000 years due to the short half-life of carbon-14 (5,730 years). For older materials, other radioactive isotopes with longer half-lives, such as uranium-lead or potassium-argon, are used for dating.


What is the age determined by carbon dating?

The age of organic material up to about 70,000 years.


Which prophet of Allah was present 75000 years ago?

There is no way of knowing the answer to your question


Can carbon dating be used on bones a million years old?

No, there are no detectable levels of carbon-14 left in any sample older than roughly 40,000 years. Without carbon-14 in the sample, no date can be determined.


Which isotope is useful for dating wood and charcoal that is less than about 75000 years old?

Carbon-14 is the isotope commonly used for dating wood and charcoal less than about 75,000 years old. This isotope is useful because plants take in carbon-14 while they are alive, and it decays at a known rate after the plant dies, allowing for accurate dating.


Why is carbon14 dating not accurate for estimating the age of materials more than 50.000 years old?

Carbon-14 dating is not accurate for materials older than 50,000 years because the half-life of carbon-14 is about 5,730 years, meaning it decays rapidly over time, making it ineffective for measuring ancient material. Beyond this age, the amount of carbon-14 left in a sample is so small that it becomes difficult to accurately measure, leading to less reliable age estimates. Other dating methods, such as potassium-argon or uranium-lead dating, are better suited for older materials.


Which items can be dated by isotope carbon 14?

material up to 60 000 years old


What is payment on 75000 loan at6.25percent for 30 loan?

$453.42 over 30 years.


Which two criteria must be met before scientists can use radiocarbon dating?

Two criteria that must be met before scientists can use radiocarbon dating are the availability of carbon in the material being dated and the assumption that the carbon is of organic origin. Additionally, the material being dated should not be contaminated with younger or older carbon to obtain accurate results.


Which Muslim tourist treveled 75000 miles?

Ibn Battuta (1099-1166) over 29 years.