RADIOACTIVE

DATING
PROCESS
DOES C-14 TELL US THE TRUTH?

By:
Filiberto Arrizón Melchor
Francisco Xavier Bastidas
Moreno
José García
Miguel Ángel Long Vázquez
C-14
 Carbon 14, also known as radiocarbon, it’s a
radioactive isotope with an atomic nucleus that
contains 6 protons and 8 neutrons.
 The carbon 14 is found in nature its constantly being
regenerated by cosmic rays hitting the atmosphere. 
 Its presence in organic materials is used extensively
as basis of the radiocarbon dating method to date
archaeological, geological, and hydrogeological
samples.
 It is used in Radiocarbon dating of an object. 
 Carbon 14 was discovered by Martin Kamen and Sam
Ruben on February 27, 1940.
 1946 Willard Libby proposed an innovative method for
dating organic materials by measuring content of C-
14
RADIOACTIVE
DATING
 Radioactive dating is a method of
dating rocks and minerals using
radioactive isotopes.
 Protons need a called nuclear glue
that is provided by neutrons
elements can have various
numbers of neutrons that are called
isotopes and as they get heavier
they need more neutrons to stay
together.
 RADIOISOTOPE
A radioactive isotope, also
called radioisotope refers to any
of several species of the same
chemical element with different
masses whose nuclei are unstable
and dissipate excess energy by
spontaneously emitting radiation in
the form of alpha, beta, and
gamma rays.
 Every chemical element has one or more radioactive
isotopes. For example, hydrogen, the lightest element, has
three isotopes with mass numbers 1, 2, and 3.
Only hydrogen-3 (tritium), however, is a radioactive
isotope, the other two being stable.
C-14 CARBON
DATING
This is a common dating method mainly
used by archaeologists, as it can only date
geologically recent organic materials, usually
charcoal, but also bone and antlers.
All living organisms take up carbon from
their environment including a small proportion
of the radioactive isotope 14-C.
The amount of carbon isotopes within living
organisms reaches an equilibrium value, on
death no more is taken up, and the 14-C present
starts to decay at a known rate. The amount of
14-C present and the known rate of decay of 14-
C and the equilibrium value gives the length of
time elapsed since the death of the organism.
AN EXAMPLE IS THE MOA BONE
DATING

https://www.sciencelearn.org.nz/image_maps/37-c-14-carbon-dating-
process
INTRODUCTION
 This method faces problems because the cosmic ray
flux has changed over time, but a calibration factor is
applied to take this into account. Radiocarbon dating
is normally suitable for organic materials less than 50
000 years old because beyond that time the amount
of 14-C becomes too small to be accurately measured.
INACCURACIES IN RADIOCARBON
DATING
 One of the most important dating tools used in
archaeology may sometimes give misleading data,
new study shows
 The discrepancy is due to significant fluctuations in
the amount of carbon-14 in the atmosphere, and it could
force scientists to rethink how they use ancient organic
remains to measure the passing of time.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

By measuring the amount of carbon-14 in the annual
growth rings of trees grown in southern Jordan
 That may not seem like a huge deal, but in situations
where a decade or two of discrepancy counts,
radiocarbon dating could be misrepresenting important
details.
 The science behind the dating method is
straightforward: nitrogen atoms in the atmosphere hit
with cosmic radiation are converted into a type of
carbon with eight neutrons

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 Over millennia the level of carbon-14 in the
atmosphere changes, meaning measurements need to
be calibrated against a chart that takes the atmospheric
concentration into account, such as INTCAL13.
"We know from atmospheric measurements over the last
50 years that radiocarbon levels vary through the year,
and we also know that plants typically grow at different
times in different parts of the Northern Hemisphere,"
says archaeologist Sturt Manning from Cornell University.
 The difference most likely comes
down to changes in regional climates,
such as warming conditions.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

This Photo by Unknown Author is

licensed under CC BY-SA
HOW IS C-14 RELATED
TO RELIGION
How Accurate Is Radiocarbon Dating?

Most carbon atoms weigh 12 atomic mass units. However, roughly one in a
trillion carbon atoms weighs 14 atomic mass units. This carbon is called
carbon-14—or radiocarbon, because it is radioactive. Half will decay in about
5,730 years to form nitrogen-14. Half of the remaining half will decay in
another 5,730 years, and so on.
Increasing Amounts of Carbon-14. If one thought that the C-14/C-
12 ratio had always been what it is today, one would incorrectly
conclude that small amounts of carbon-14 in fossils meant that
much time had passed. Instead, those organisms had less carbon-
14 when they died.

Radiocarbon dating
requires knowing the
ratio of carbon-14 to
carbon-12 in the
atmosphere when the
organic matter being
dated was part of a
living organism. The
assumption (shown in
red), which few realize is
being made, is that this
ratio has always been
what it was before the
Industrial Revolution—
about one carbon-14
atom for every trillion
Willard Libby, who received a Nobel Prize for developing this technique,
conducted tests in 1950 that showed more carbon-14 forming than
decaying. Therefore, the amount of carbon-14 and the ratio must be
increasing. He ignored his test results, because he believed that the earth
must be more than 20,000–30,000 years old, in which case the amount of
carbon-14 must have had time to reach equilibrium and be constant.
In 1977, Melvin Cook did similar, but more precise,
tests which showed that the ratio was definitely
increasing, even faster than Libby’s test indicated.
Several laboratories in the world are now equipped to perform a much
improved radiocarbon dating procedure. Using atomic accelerators, a
specimen’s carbon-14 atoms can now actually be counted, giving a more
precise radiocarbon date with even smaller samples. The standard, but less
accurate, radiocarbon dating technique counts only the rare disintegrations
of carbon-14 atoms, which are sometimes confused with other types of
disintegrations.
Radiocarbon dating of supposedly very ancient bones should
provide valuable information. Why are such tests rarely performed?
Researchers naturally do not waste money on a technique that
destroys their specimen and provides no specific age. In an organic
specimen thought to be older than 100,000 radiocarbon years, all
carbon-14 would have decayed, so an age could not be determined.
Therefore, researchers will not radiocarbon date specimens they
think are older than 100,000 years. Conversely, if carbon-14 is in
any specimen, it must be less than 100,000 years old, even if the
researcher believes the specimen is millions of years old.
Percent of C14 Percent of C12 years
remaining remaining
100 100 0
50 100 5,730
25 100 11,460
12.5 100 17,450
6.25 100 22,920
3.250 100 28,650
PERSONAL
CONCLUSIONS
 REFERENCES
 FuseSchool, (2014, Aug 10). What are Radioactive isotopes (radionuclides). Retrieved from
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cKJMk2Oiod0
 Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). radioactive isotope. [online] Available at:
https://www.britannica.com/science/radioactive-isotope [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].
 Graham, I. (2009). RADIOACTIVE DATING. [online] AUSTRALIAN MUSEUM. Available at:
https://australianmuseum.net.au/radioactive-datin [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].
 Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Carbon-14 dating. [online] Available at:
https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-14-dating [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].

 Encyclopedia Britannica. (2018). Carbon-14 dating. [online] Available at:

https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-14-dating [Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].
 McRae, M. (2018). A Crucial Archaeological Dating Tool Is Wrong, And It Could Change History as
We Know It. [online] ScienceAlert. Available at:
https://www.sciencealert.com/radiocarbon-dating-ancient-levant-region-calibration-inaccuracies
[Accessed 25 Oct. 2018].