Question

Explain in detail about Potassium-Argon dating.

Answer 1

Potassium-argon dating is the method of radiometric dating which is based on the decay of potassium-40 isotope to argon-40 isotope. In this method , the time of origin of rocks was determined by calculating the ratio of radioactive argon to the radioactive potassium in the rock.
Potassium is a common element found in many materials. In these materials, the decay product ⁴⁰Ar is able to escape the liquid (molten) rock, but starts to accumulate when the rock solidifies (recrystallizes). Time to calculate the beginning of recrystallisation is done by measuring the ratio of the amount of ⁴⁰Ar accumulated to the amount of ⁴⁰K remaining.