Carbon-14 Dating
A human skeleton is discovered at a new construction site outside a small town in Nebraska. The remains could be from someone who died within the past 100 years or the past 1000 years or even longer. An archeologist from a local university is called in to examine the remains. He finds evidence that the skeleton may indeed be very old. To determine its age, he uses radiometric dating.
What is radiometric dating, and what important information is it based upon?
What causes an element to become radioactive?
What type of radiometric dating do archeologists use to date an artifact that was once part of a living organism?
How is the amount of carbon-14 in an artifact related to its age?
How is carbon-14 produced, and where does it exist naturally?
Do living organisms all have the same ratio of carbon-14 to stable carbon in their bodies? Why or why not?
What happens to the carbon in a living organism when the organism dies?
How do scientists determine the age of once-living organisms?
When does carbon-14 dating become impractical?
What kind of background does a person need if he wished to pursue a career in archeology?
A human skeleton is discovered at a new construction site outside a small town in Nebraska. The remains could be from someone who died within the past 100 years or the past 1000 years or even longer. An archeologist from a local university is called in to examine the remains. He finds evidence that the skeleton may indeed be very old. To determine its age, he uses radiometric dating.
What is radiometric dating, and what important information is it based upon?
What causes an element to become radioactive?
What type of radiometric dating do archeologists use to date an artifact that was once part of a living organism?
How is the amount of carbon-14 in an artifact related to its age?
How is carbon-14 produced, and where does it exist naturally?
Do living organisms all have the same ratio of carbon-14 to stable carbon in their bodies? Why or why not?
What happens to the carbon in a living organism when the organism dies?
How do scientists determine the age of once-living organisms?
When does carbon-14 dating become impractical?
What kind of background does a person need if he wished to pursue a career in archeology?