How old is the earth?

Answer 1

I think over 4.5 billion years old

Answer 2

The earth is about 4600,000,000 years old (that's 4.6 billion years). It is measured by radiometric dating techniques, doen on the oldest rocks so far discovered. It's probably an under-estimate in that these oldest rocks are metamorphic, and were likely derived from earlier igneous rocks..

Asking a question like this will inevitably result in answers from creationists who will state that the earth is only 7000 years old (by counting the days in the Old Testament of the Bible), and that the radiometric dating technique is flawed. Of course, there are certain inaccuracies that are inevitable in the radiometric technique, but trust me, the methodology is sound, and no scientist has yet come up with a shred of evidence to doubt that the underlying principle (of radioactive decay) is anything other than a universal constant.

Answer 3

Amounts of several radioactive materials agree that earth is about 4,700,000,000 years old, plus or minus about 2.5 billion. Bishop Ussher studied the Bible and said creation was in 4004 BCE, so that would make the Earth 6011 years old now. How naive can some people be? The Bible is full of contradictions and scientific errors, so no one logical and objective accepts it.

Answer 4

Video topic is "The Young Age of the Earth." Presenter Dr. Robert Gentry, Research Scientist. Available free for personal use. Distributed by owners
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1272542059740401469

Answer 5

The best estimate is 4 billion years

Answer 6

Don't ask that question to a Creationist. They're liable to tell you something like 5,000 years old. Taking things a bit too literally methinks.

Answer 7

Most evidence suggests that the earth is young.

It is important to note that all methods of estimating the age of the earth/universe involve unprovable assumptions about the past.

Evidence for youth includes
The saltiness of the sea (would be saltier if old)
The decay of earth's magnetic field
The recession of the moon
The existence of short lived comets (Oort cloud has been invented to try and explain them)

http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3040/

Much evidence for age is clearly faulty. Rock from Mt St Helens volcano was dated as millions of years old when it is known to be just decades.
Diamonds contain carbon 14 when they 'shouldn't'.
http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3059/

Old-age dating methods typically involve radiometric dating.
But note that radiometric dating methods *do not* necessarily give accurate dates for rocks.
Such methods rely on 3 assumptions:
That the original amount of parent and daughter isotope is known (usually assumed that there was no daughter isotope)
That the decay rate has been constant (quite an assumption when one is talking about half lives of millions of years and we have been measuring them for just decades)
That there has been no inflow or outflow of parent or daughter isotopes.

Just how wrong such dating can be is illustrated by the fact that volcanic rock from Mt St Helens (just decades old) is dated as millions of years old! When the methods fail for rocks of known age, how much credence should one give for rocks of unknown age.

Lots of info on such dating issues here
http://www.creationontheweb.com/content/view/3059/

Answer 8

Approximately 4.7 billion years old.

Answer 9

Right.....

The theory of gravity for example...pure bunk. We're all held in place by angels...yep, angels.

Answer 10

It is roughly 4600 million years