What is the age limit for using radioactive carbon dating?
1 Answer
Sep 17, 2017
about 57,000 years
Explanation:
The half life of Carbon 14 is about 5,700 years.
Divide
57000 years is then 10 half lives. This means that what is left
is
This means that there is less than .1 % of the original radioactive Carbon 14 left. This small amount would be less than the precision of the instruments used to measure the level of radioactivity.
Carbon 14 can not be used to date fossils other than those from the recent era.
