What's it Do?
What does radiometric dating help scientists determine about rocks and fossils?
Their age
What is a half-life in radiometric dating?
The time it takes for half of the radioactive atoms to decay.
True or False, there is no way to date things older than 1 billion years.
False
Which is larger, the Atomic Mass or the Atomic Number?
The Atomic Mass includes the neutrons & protons.
Which is used to date living things like bones and wood?
Carbon 14, or Uranium
Carbon 14
Which decays slower, uranium or carbon 14?
uranium
Why is radiometric dating important in understanding Earth's history?
It allows scientists to study the ages of rocks and fossils.
What is the age of a rock that has undergone two half-lives of decay of a radioactive isotope with a half-life of 500 million years?
1 billion years
What can radiometric dating tell us about the Hawaiian Islands?
The ages of the volcanic rocks on each island
What is the main assumption made in radiometric dating?
The rate of decay of radioactive elements is constant.