How does carbon-14 dating work?
What will be an ideal response?
While an organism lives, it exchanges carbon with the environment and the ratio of normal carbon (carbon-12) to radioactive carbon (carbon-14) remains stable. At death, the exchange stops and the amount of carbon-14 decreases as it goes through radioactive decay. Since carbon-14 has a known half-life (5370 years), the decrease can be measured and related to time since death. (e.g., an organism with one-fourth the normal amount of carbon-14 died about 10000-11000 years ago--two half-lives)
You might also like to view...
Answer the following statements true (T) or false (F)
1. The fins of lobe-finned fish are supported by extensions of the skeleton and are moved by muscles within the fin whereas the fins of ray-finned fish are supported by flexible, nonskeletal elements and are moved by muscles from within the fish's body. 2. Acanthostega is an important fossil for the understanding of phylogeny because it is an intermediate form between lobe-finned fishes and amphibians. 3. The formation of feathers, hair, and reptilian scales is based on completely different developmental patterns and genetic influences. 4. Some dinosaurs had feathers. 5. In previous times, birds and pterosaurs were contemporaries.
Which of the following plants was used as a
bioremediator at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds?
a. hemlock b. poplar trees c. maple trees d. sawgrass e. oak trees
Coral reefs are made up of genetically alike coral polyps. New polyps develop as offshoots from the parental polyp. What type of reproduction do coral polyps use?
A) budding B) fission C) fragmentation D) sexual reproduction
Which of the following drugs is an MAOI?
A) Elavil B) Parnate C) Sinequan D) Pamelor