Given the following information, the older the object the less accurate this method of dating becomes. How can scientists say that the Earth is billions years old?
Chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of the radioisotope carbon-14 is believed to be reliable up to 40,000 years
Chemical analysis used to determine the age of organic materials based on their content of the radioisotope carbon-14 is believed to be reliable up to 40,000 years
1 Answer
Because it is merely a hypothesis based off strong evidence.
Explanation:
This is the wonderful thing about science, that we don't always have a way to prove what we say(and most of the time don't). In this case scientists know the half life of carbon 12, about 5730 years. With this they can predict that it will accurately show time elapsed up to 40,000 years. But this is all made around an estimate. Maybe it doesn't and in the next couple of years advancements in the field of radioactive decay are advanced to show a different more precise value, but for now scientists have to work with what they got.
