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Radioactivity is the process by which unstable atomic nuclei lose energy by emitting radiation. Radioactive elements decay at a predictable rate over time, which allows scientists to use radiometric dating to determine the age of rocks and minerals on Earth. By measuring the ratios of different isotopes in a sample, such as uranium-lead dating or carbon-14 dating, scientists can estimate the age of the Earth to be around 4.5 billion years.

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1y ago

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How is radioactivity of elements used to determine the age of the earth?

It finds the half-life of rocks.


Is radioactivity on the earth something relativity new?

no. radioactivity has been around since the earth's beginnings.


What is the mantles heat source?

The earth has not finished cooling down from when it was covered in lava. Once it is done cooling, the earth will be like a giant and permanent ice age radioactivity it says so


How did radioactivity change or impact the scientific world?

One thing is that now the correct age of the earth could be calculated. Before radioactivity was discovered the earth was though to have cooled enough to be only about 25 million years old by calculation. The discovery of radioactivity changed all that by increasing the heat the earth could radiate and so increasing the age of the earth dramatically.


Why was Lord Kelvin 's age of the earth was wrong?

Lord Kelvin's estimate of the age of the Earth was based on the assumption that the planet was originally molten and gradually cooled over time. However, he was unaware of the phenomenon of radioactivity, which generates heat within the Earth's interior. This led to an underestimation of the Earth's age, as radioactive decay processes were not considered in his calculations.


How does magma get so hot?

Radioactivity within the Earth.


How does radioactivity formation tell Earth's geologic story?

It Does a man


What causes the temperature to change the crust of earth to the core?

Pressure and radioactivity.


Is radioactivity in the world relatively new?

No, radioactivity is not new. It has existed since the formation of Earth and is a natural phenomenon. The discovery and understanding of radioactivity by scientists in the late 19th and early 20th centuries brought attention to its presence in the world.


What led scientist to infer that the earth is 4.6 billion years old?

Radioactivity


What discovery in 1896 changed the method of assigning an age to the earth?

The discovery of radioactivity in 1896 by Henri Becquerel led to the development of radiometric dating techniques, such as radiocarbon dating, which revolutionized the method of assigning an age to the earth by providing more precise and accurate estimates based on the decay of radioactive isotopes.


What percent of the earth is radioactive?

Approximately 80% of the Earth's natural radioactivity comes from the decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium-40 in the Earth's crust.