Carbon-14 Dating The approximate date a fossilized organism died can be determined through a technique called carbon-14 (C-14) dating. All living organisms absorb C-14, an unstable form of the element carbon that slowly decaysinto nitrogen-14 (N-14) through beta decay. During its lifetime, an organism continually replenishes its supply of C-14 by breathing and eating. After the organism dies and becomes a fossil, C-14 decays without being replaced. Scientists know the rate at which C-14 decays and can detect the electrons that C-14 emits asit decays. (Actually it is counted the emitted beta particles of the old sample and a new sample of the same type and ratio is taken. Ln N/N0 = -kt where, Ln = natural logarithm, N = counts of old sample, N0 = counts of new sample, k = decayconstant which is equal to ln2/ half life and t is the age of the old sample) The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730±40 years.
Posted on: Sat, 20 Jul 2013 06:19:18 +0000