Question

Once living objects of any age can be dated by carbon-14 method.

• A. True
• B. False

Answer 1

The correct option is A True

Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon (${}^{14}C$), a radioactive isotope of carbon. The radiocarbon dating method is based on the fact that radiocarbon is constantly being created in the atmosphere by the interaction of cosmic rays with atmospheric nitrogen. The resulting radiocarbon combines with atmospheric oxygen to form radioactive carbon dioxide, which is incorporated into plants by photosynthesis; animals then acquire ${}^{14}C$ by eating the plants. When the animal or plant dies, it stops exchanging carbon with its environment, and from that point onwards the amount of ${}^{14}C$ it contains begins to decrease as the ${}^{14}C$ undergoes radioactive decay. Measuring the amount of ${}^{14}C$ in a sample from a dead plant or animal such as a piece of wood or a fragment of bone provides information that can be used to calculate when the animal or plant died.