a radioactive isotope of carbon with mass number 14 and a half-life of about 5730 years: widely used in the dating of organic materials. a method of dating geological or archeological specimens by determining the relative proportions of particular radioactive isotopes present in a sample.

What is the role of isotopes in radiometric dating?

Radiometric dating is a method used to date rocks and other objects based on the known decay rate of radioactive isotopes. The two uranium isotopes decay at different rates, and this helps make uranium-lead dating one of the most reliable methods because it provides a built-in cross-check.

How do scientists use radiometric dating of isotopes?

While radiocarbon dating is useful only for materials that were once alive, scientists can use uranium-thorium-lead dating to measure the age of objects such as rocks. In this method, scientists measure the quantity of a variety of different radioactive isotopes, all of which decay into stable forms of lead.

Which isotope is used in radio dating?

carbon-14 dating Radiocarbon dating is also simply called carbon-14 dating. Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon, with a half-life of 5,730 years (which is very short compared with the above isotopes), and decays into nitrogen.

What are 3 most common isotopes used for half-life dating?

IsotopesHalf-life (years)Uranium-235Lead-207704 millionRubidium-87Strontium-8748.8 billionPotassium-40Argon-401.277 billionCarbon-14Nitrogen-145730 ± 403 more rows