____ dating uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find their ages?

Question

____ dating uses the properties of atoms in rocks and other objects to find their ages.

a. Comparative
b. Absolute
c. Approximate
d. Relative

Answer 1

It is b.

The decay of radioactive isotopes at known rates can be used to measure the age of something (like a rock) in absolute time (number of years). Relative dating is simply telling whether something is older than something else or putting a series of rocks or geologic events in a time sequence.

Answer 2

None of the above.

You are probably referring to radiometric dating.

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/

You may have trouble explaining it to your teacher though :)

Answer 3

b. Absolute

Some prefer the term chronometric dating.