Carbon-14, C-14, 14 C or radiocarbon, is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic nucleus containing 6 protons and 8 neutrons. Its presence in organic matter is the basis of the radiocarbon dating method pioneered by Willard Libby and colleagues (1949) to date archaeological, geological and hydrogeological samples.

Oct 20, 2023 · Carbon-14 dating works by comparing the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in a sample to that in a living organism, allowing for the determination of the age of formerly living things fairly precisely.

Feb 20, 2025 · Carbon-14, the longest-lived radioactive isotope of carbon, whose decay allows the accurate dating of archaeological artifacts from 500 to 50,000 years old. Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years.

Mar 13, 2025 · Carbon-14 dating, method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (carbon-14). Carbon-14 is continually formed in nature by the interaction of neutrons with nitrogen-14 in the Earth’s atmosphere. Learn more about carbon-14 dating in …

Radiocarbon dating, or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method that can accurately determine the age of organic materials as old as approximately 60,000 years. First developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, the technique is …

Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon that is formed naturally in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays and can replace carbon-12 in biological systems. AI generated definition based on: Encyclopedia of Energy, 2004

Carbon-14 is a radioisotope of the chemical element carbon, which has 8 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 6 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 14.

Jan 29, 2025 · Carbon dating, also known as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating, is a method of determining the age of organic materials by measuring the amount of carbon-14 (14 C) present in a sample. It is widely used in archaeology, geology, and environmental science to date objects up to around 50,000 years old.

Oct 14, 2021 · Carbon C-14 is an unstable isotope of carbon created when a neutron collides with a nitrogen atom, causing capture of the neutron and release of the proton converting nitrogen to a carbon with fourteen nucleons (6 protons and 8 neutrons). Carbon-14 emits beta particles as it decays and reverts back to nitrogen.

Carbon-14 is a weakly radioactive isotope of Carbon; also known as radiocarbon, it is an isotopic chronometer. C-14 dating is only applicable to organic and some inorganic materials (not applicable to metals).