Question

Which isotope of Carbon is used for dating prehistoric objects?

Answer 1

• The atoms of elements have the same atomic number but a different mass number is known as Isotopes of an element.
• Isotopes have the same number of protons and the same chemical properties.
• Carbon has three isotopes - ${\mathrm{C}}_6^{12},{\mathrm{C}}_6^{13},{\mathrm{C}}_6^{14}$.
• Out of these three ${\mathrm{C}}_6^{14}$ (Carbon-14) is a radioactive isotope used to determine the age of prehistoric objects.