i'm confused can't find the answer in my book
2007-03-07 11:51:58 · 4 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
carbon-14 dating can only be used if the material has carbon in it. Unless the metal has carbon in it (like carbon steel), there's no carbon to work with.
There could be other radioactive isotopes to work with.
2007-03-07 11:55:50 · answer #1 · answered by 2 meter man 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Carbon 14 is naturally produced by living things but breaks down over time after death. By measuring the amount of Carbon 14 in an object it is possible to estimate how long it has been since the object died. This exact method (using this substance) only works on things that have been alive at some point or other, so metals won't work.
2007-03-07 12:02:14 · answer #2 · answered by Adam J 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The reason is that the object itself must contain carbon. Most metal alloys don't contain carbon (or much of it), and certainly other elements by definition don't contain carbon. Living things contain terrestrial carbon (which is a mix of C12, C13, and C14), which is why carbon dating is used for dating things that we once living.
The dating of other types of objects usually relies on K40/Ar40 dating, or Uranium/Lead dating.
2007-03-07 11:56:45 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
carbon-14 is radioactive....
it gives off it's electrons and scientists can see how many electrons it has to estimate how old something is.
they do this by figuring out the half life (how long it takes for carbon-14 to lose half its electrons)
so, an object must have carbon-14 in it.
2007-03-07 12:01:52 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋