2007-01-10 23:17:10 · 10 answers · asked by scott h 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Earth Sciences & Geology
by two ways
carbon dating
radiomatic dating
2007-01-10 23:55:56 · answer #1 · answered by Justfochange.cent 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The people above don't know what they are talking about. Carbon 14 only works on things that are less than 10,000 years old. This is because that carbon 14 decays quite quickly. Now fossils go back as earliest as the Cambrian 545 million years ago. See the problem 545000000 > 10000. Radiometric dating theoretically works, unfortunately its not conclusive. Inmost cases we use relative age techniques based on the rocks the fossil is found it. Example. This rock is older that this rock because this rock is under this rock... the principle of superposition, meaning rocks are deposited the oldest on the bottom becoming increasingly younger. Any way back to the question. The fossil is the same age as the rock it is found it. we see correlation between rock layers all over a given region. So to determine the age of the fossil, we look to see the age of the rock it is found in.
2007-01-11 18:23:08 · answer #2 · answered by josh_maurer2002 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Precise age dating is very impractical. Carbon 14 has such a short half life that it's only useful in 'recent' fossils. The most common way we date them is by giving them an approximate age date based on the rocks they were found in. Usually it's narrowed down to the specific period like Ordovician and Permian. Getting more exact than that isn't possible usually because they do not contain enough radioactive decaying minerals to date them like that.
2007-01-11 08:39:31 · answer #3 · answered by bunny_952000 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
There are 2 types of age determinations.Scientists in the 18th and 19th centuries studied the layers of sedimentary rocks and fossils to give their age.In 20th century, when information about radioactive decay first started to spread, scientists discovered that age of fossils could be determined through radiometric age dating.
2007-01-11 07:40:14 · answer #4 · answered by shinysingh15 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most methods rely on the decomposition of radioactive materials. Different materials have different half-life rates and will thus be suitable for different timeframes. The most known method is with Carbon. It's based on the decay from 14C to 13C in remnants of living tissue. It's suitable for a timeframe from about 40,000 to a few hundred years before present.
Other methods rely on Argon, for example, but in this case, you actually mesure the decay in the sediment where a fossil was found, not the fossil itself.
There are also other methods. For example dendrochronology, which is based on the rings you can see in cross-sections of a tree. You can date trees up to thousands of years ago with this method. (As dar as the neolithic, I think.)
2007-01-11 07:27:18 · answer #5 · answered by Dr. Zaius 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
they have some sorts of method on how to determine the age of the fossil like RADIOACTIVE DATING/ CARBON-14
2007-01-11 09:26:59 · answer #6 · answered by faith 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
the set the fossile on a flat cold metal table with super hot bright lights on it and then the intrigate the fossile untill it confesses it's age, then they disect it and examine it and carbon date it , just to make sure it told the truth, lol
2007-01-11 07:27:22 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
C-14 dating technique is used.
The isotopic carbon decays to its half in 5730 years. Rate of decay is constant.
hope so, all opbms scholars have understood
2007-01-11 11:24:12 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
By a chemical analysis process called "Carbon dating".
2007-01-11 07:24:29 · answer #9 · answered by john R 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
you can date the rocks that surround it.
How, I don't know!
2007-01-11 10:54:40 · answer #10 · answered by _Jess_ 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋