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Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby.
Carbon-14, C-14, 14 C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons.Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues (1949) to date archaeological, geological and hydrogeological samples.
C, and 14 C. These ratios are used to calculate F m, the "fraction modern", defined as = where R norm is the 14 C / 12 C ratio for the sample, after correcting for fractionation, and R modern is the standard 14 C / 12 C ratio for modern carbon. [12]
Wiggle matching, also known as carbon–14 wiggle-match dating (WMD) is a dating method that uses the non-linear relationship between 14 C age and calendar age to match the shape of a series of closely sequentially spaced 14 C dates with the 14 C calibration curve.
Radiocarbon dating measurements produce ages in "radiocarbon years", which must be converted to calendar ages by a process called calibration. Calibration is needed because the atmospheric 14 C / 12 C ratio, which is a key element in calculating radiocarbon ages, has not been constant historically. [1]
This makes carbon-14 an ideal dating method to date the age of bones or the remains of an organism. The carbon-14 dating limit lies around 58,000 to 62,000 years. [32] The rate of creation of carbon-14 appears to be roughly constant, as cross-checks of carbon-14 dating with other dating methods show it gives consistent results.
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1 n + 14 N → 14 C + 1 p. The half-life of carbon-14 is 5,730±40 years. [27] Libby realized that when plants and animals die they cease to ingest fresh carbon-14, thereby giving any organic compound a built-in nuclear clock. [26] He published his theory in 1946, [28] [29] and expanded on it in his monograph Radiocarbon Dating in 1955. He also ...