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idle thought: why does carbon dating work?
like, i know that its based off of radioactive decay of carbon-14, but shouldnt all the carbon in the environment decay at the same rate? its the same stuff, right?
idle thought: why does carbon dating work?
like, i know that its based off of radioactive decay of carbon-14, but shouldnt all the carbon in the environment decay at the same rate? its the same stuff, right?
mystery solved!
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RT @metakuna
@imhinesmi Carbon-14 is produced continuously in the atmosphere from cosmic rays hitting nitrogen, so the amount of C-14 tells you how long since that carbon was captured from the atmosphere (e.g. by a plant, or an animal eating a plant)
https://twitter.com/metakuna/status/1350474442057674752