The Earth was formed around 4.57 billion (4.57×109)[1] years ago
2006-06-19 14:49:53
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answer #1
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answered by daisegirl9 2
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4.55 billion years, give or few a couple million, this number was determined by the compromise between the oldest material found on earth, and meteorites formed at the birth of our solar system. The exact age is a little hazy because when Earth became Earth is up for debate. Is it when the matter that formed earth first came into being, when they first came together, and so on. All available facts in a variety of sciences point to the evidence of an ancient Earth.
The Creationist argument that the Earth is 6000 years old is not based on science. In 1654, an Archbishop named Usher, based on genealogy in the Bible, determined that Earth was created October 26, 4004 BC, 9:00am (PST), basically he added up all the ages of the men in the Bible until got to Adam's creation, then subtracted six days. The often repeated idea that space dust on the Moon shows a young earth has also been disproven and one of the leading Creationism websites, answersingenesis.org, even has a page on it's website asking that Creationist not use this as an argument for young earth creation.
2006-06-19 16:44:26
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answer #2
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answered by wellarmedsheep 4
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How Old Is The Earth, And How Do We Know?
he generally accepted age for the Earth and the rest of the solar system is about 4.55 billion years (plus or minus about 1%). This value is derived from several different lines of evidence.
Unfortunately, the age cannot be computed directly from material that is solely from the Earth. There is evidence that energy from the Earth's accumulation caused the surface to be molten. Further, the processes of erosion and crustal recycling have apparently destroyed all of the earliest surface.
The oldest rocks which have been found so far (on the Earth) date to about 3.8 to 3.9 billion years ago (by several radiometric dating methods). Some of these rocks are sedimentary, and include minerals which are themselves as old as 4.1 to 4.2 billion years. Rocks of this age are relatively rare, however rocks that are at least 3.5 billion years in age have been found on North America, Greenland, Australia, Africa, and Asia.
While these values do not compute an age for the Earth, they do establish a lower limit (the Earth must be at least as old as any formation on it). This lower limit is at least concordant with the independently derived figure of 4.55 billion years for the Earth's actual age.
The most direct means for calculating the Earth's age is a Pb/Pb isochron age, derived from samples of the Earth and meteorites. This involves measurement of three isotopes of lead (Pb-206, Pb-207, and either Pb-208 or Pb-204). A plot is constructed of Pb-206/Pb-204 versus Pb-207/Pb-204.
If the solar system formed from a common pool of matter, which was uniformly distributed in terms of Pb isotope ratios, then the initial plots for all objects from that pool of matter would fall on a single point.
Over time, the amounts of Pb-206 and Pb-207 will change in some samples, as these isotopes are decay end-products of uranium decay (U-238 decays to Pb-206, and U-235 decays to Pb-207). This causes the data points to separate from each other. The higher the uranium-to-lead ratio of a rock, the more the Pb-206/Pb-204 and Pb-207/Pb-204 values will change with time.
If the source of the solar system was also uniformly distributed with respect to uranium isotope ratios, then the data points will always fall on a single line. And from the slope of the line we can compute the amount of time which has passed since the pool of matter became separated into individual objects. See the Isochron Dating FAQ or Faure (1986, chapter 18) for technical detail.
A young-Earther would object to all of the "assumptions" listed above. However, the test for these assumptions is the plot of the data itself. The actual underlying assumption is that, if those requirements have not been met, there is no reason for the data points to fall on a line.
The resulting plot has data points for each of five meteorites that contain varying levels of uranium, a single data point for all meteorites that do not, and one (solid circle) data point for modern terrestrial sediments
2006-06-23 23:04:58
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answer #3
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answered by cgdchris 4
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the moon has a layer of cosmic dust on it that scientists estimate to have taken somewhere between 6000 and 10,000 years to accumulate.
Since the earth & moon are of the same age, the age of the earth is the same - 6000 to 10,000 years
2006-06-19 16:13:57
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answer #4
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answered by aBranch@60-WA ,<>< 4
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According to Wikipedia, the Earth is around 4.57 billion (4.57×109) years old.
2006-06-19 15:01:49
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answer #5
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answered by ? 2
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Really, I don't think anyone can answer this question because we do not have sufficient data. We can of course try to speculate and hope that it is correct.
Sorry but this question shall remain a mystery for a very long time.
2006-06-19 15:11:39
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answer #6
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answered by Prosper O 2
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God created the world about 6,000 years ago
2006-06-19 15:19:34
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answer #7
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answered by Justin 4
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noone really knows i mean if you think 0-2006 years dden going back thru dinosaurs and be4 da big bang there was more so lol the answer is infinity.
2006-06-19 14:50:48
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answer #8
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answered by mishmaster5000 2
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Stupendously old. How old? I'm not sure. But it damn sure is older than 6,000 years!
2006-06-19 14:56:01
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answer #9
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answered by sublimetranscendental 3
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according to the bible, 6,000 years old
2006-06-19 14:52:24
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answer #10
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answered by crazyromo 3
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