Radioactive+Dating

[] [] [] [] Scientist are making new observations all the time. According to science, dinosaur bones should contain little radioactive Carbon 14 because over 11,000 Carbon 14 half-lives have passed since dinosaurs were alive.

__Radioactive Dating__ (Answer or do items numbered 1-8.) 1. Tell what happens during radioactive decay. 2. Tell what goes down and what goes up over time in a rock containing radioactive elements. 3. Explain the half-life of a radioactive element. 4. Explain the ratio used to determine the age of a rock. 5. The process used to determine the absolute age of a rock is ….. 6. Why have scientist used moon rocks and meteorites to estimate the age of the Earth? 7. How old do scientist say the Earth is? 8. Draw a picture explaining Radioactive Dating. Radioactive dating is used to determine the absolute age of a rock. As seen in the picture above, radioactive decay occurs when atoms of a radioactive parent element releases atomic particles and thus become atoms of a stable daughter element. So over time the number of radioactive parent atoms in the rock decreases and the number of stable daughter atoms increases. The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to become stable atoms in called the radioactive element's half-life. By determining the ratio of radioactive element to stable element and making three assumptions, scientist infer the absolute age of the rock. For radioactive dating to be accurate, three things have to be determined. x x