Answer to Question #312348 in Atomic and Nuclear Physics for Anonymous005

Question

What type of radioactive decay is involved in carbon

dating? Explain the process of carbon dating.

Answer 1

Carbon dating involves beta decay to produce nitrogen-14.

The basis of radiocarbon dating is simple: all living things absorb carbon from the atmosphere and food sources around them, including a certain amount of natural, radioactive carbon-14. When the plant or animal dies, they stop absorbing, but the radioactive carbon that they've accumulated continues to decay.