radiometric dating

[spherelin]

Hey guys,

I find radiometric dating super tedious, one look at how they work it out and I literally just shut my book HAHAH.
So how much of it do we actually need to know? Is it only the 'half-life' concept?

[aishuwa1995]

I'm pretty sure, it's just the half life concept..they can't expect us to know it in great detail just the fact that radioactive isotopes can be dated from their half life (absolute dating method).
Oh, and I think I've come across a few questions that ask about the relative times that certain isotopes can be used i.e. Carbon can be used to date things to a maximum of 50000 years (that's what my school's powerpoint said) and Uranium can be used to date things that  are over 500,000 years old.

[aishuwa1995]

this might be useful to remember? 

[spherelin]

this might be useful to remember? 

Thanks for that! I remember that my teacher told me that we only need to have one other technique, other than carbon dating, up ourselves

[aishuwa1995]

this might be useful to remember? 

Thanks for that! I remember that my teacher told me that we only need to have one other technique, other than carbon dating, up ourselves

Well, there's comparative dating using stratification but this is for fossils.
Electron spin resonance and Luminescence techniques are other absolute dating methods but I've never seen them in the exams I've done so far.

[Daenerys Targaryen]

whats used to date things between 50,000 and 500,000?

[aishuwa1995]

whats used to date things between 50,000 and 500,000?

uranium, potassium or rubidium can do that I think. (the age of deposits is the maximum amount of time)

[lollypop96]

What is the daughter element of Carbon-14? Is it Carbon-12 or Nitrogen-14? I'm finding it difficult to grasp this concept because NOB always states that it is Nitrogen-14 but it is never mentioned in practice exam answers as the daughter element. Also if I were to answer a question about which method should be used to date a fossil would this answer be valid: Radiometric dating should be used. The abundance of the radioisotope (Carbon-14) and its stable daughter atoms (Nitrogen-14 or Caron-12) is used to calculate the fossil's age.
Is this answer valid? Also it is Nitrogen-14 or Carbon-12? Please help!!

[Jenny_2108]

^ The daughter element is N 14
C 12 and C 14 are isotopes. All living organisms contain C 14 and C 12
When organism dead, C 14 decays into N 14

[spherelin]

^ The daughter element is N 14
C 12 and C 14 are isotopes. All living organisms contain C 14 and C 12
When organism dead, C 14 decays into N 14

Yes, what Ennjy has said. All living organisms contain C14 and C12. C14 decays BUT C12 DOESNT - it is STABLE NOB has a tendency to confuse me too, don't worry.