Is there a way to tell how old is a piece of paper is?

Question

For example measuring how old the atom in the paper is
to determine when the paper was created.

I remember seeing on TV. But i don't know what the Method is called. Does anyone here know? Or perhaps know of any other methods of telling when the paper was created? Or any other science facility that can perform this kind of testing?

This is very important to me since the person iam having a lawsuit with has forged fake evidence! You contributions will help greatly!

Thanks
Ted

Extra Detail. Ok how about when the ink was printed on to the paper? To be more detailed the person claim he photo copied the original printed the document ten years ago. So the thing is i believe he forged the document recently. If science can proof that the ink of which the paper was printed was not done 10 years to ago. Then the Judge would know he is lieing and has broken the law.

Answer 1

I think carbon dating is impossible in this case due to its high inaccuracy. but what you can maybe do is to check what ink he used. 10 years before, there were no laser printers, and if it is photocopied using laser technology, then obiviously he is lying. u can check for fingerprints and then find the date from that. there is aparticular method for that. Hope u win the case!

Answer 2

If it were worth the expense, the paper could be radiocarbon-dated. Maybe that's what you're thinking of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radiocarbon_dating

But that isn't perfectly accurate, there's a little error in it ... and would only be worthwhile for -very- old docs.

There are other ways, which would involve going to people who are experts in archiving and conserving old documents. They'll know the range of dates a given kind of paper was produced. Again, not perfectly accurate. But if it was from another century, or another part of the world, that might help.

If it has some kind of printing on it, that would help. Different inks and reproduction methods were used in different periods. Engraving techniques, typewriters, all change as time goes by.

In your case, though, it sounds like the original and the forgery may have been fairly recent. If so, that could be quite tricky. You might check in a book on criminal forensics.

Answer 3

you can Radiocarbon date the paper and the ink and you can see if you can get there printer if the ink patterns match up with a newer model printer that wasn't around ten years ago then you no its a fake. carbon testing would probably be quicker.go here for labs in U.S.A. http://www.radiocarbon.org/Info/#labs

Answer 4

i think you should be more concerned about the ink on the paper instead of the paper itself; considering, the paper could have been made long before the ink touched it. but as to finding out how old the document is, i have no idea.

Answer 5

There is a process called carbon dating for items with a carbon base. Since paper is a wood product hence plants, there may be an option here. Good Luck!!

Answer 6

I think the only method available is the 'carbon dating', but this method is not so 'accurate' (ie cannot pinpoint the age of the materials). But ofcourse you can obtain rough idea about the age of your papers.
These facilities are available in most advanced material labs.

Answer 7

No..