Absolute Dating

Absolute Dating
• Absolute Dating determines the actual
age of a rock or fossil in years.

• The main method of absolute dating is

RADIOMETRIC DATING.
How Radiometric Dating Works
• Radioactive elements are unstable
isotopes of elements, with atoms that give
off particles (radiation) from their nuclei.
• This is called Radioactive Decay
• Atoms give off particles to become new
lighter, more stable elements. Decay will
continue until the new element is stable
and not radioactive.
Radioactive decay
Half lives
 Rate of Decay
• Radioactive elements decay at
CONSTANT RATES. As soon as a
rock forms with radioactive elements in it,
decay begins. We use this to find the age
of a rock.
• The rate at which an element decays into
a new element is measured as a HALF
LIFE.
 Half Life
• A HALF LIFE is the amount of TIME it takes
for HALF of atoms of a radioactive element
to decay into a new, stable element.

– Terms used to describe material:

• Parent Material: the original, radioactive element
• Daughter Material: the new, stable element
Example
100 % Parent Material Time= 0 The rock formed

50 % Parent, 50% Daughter 1 Half Life

25% Parent, 75% Daughter 2 Half Lives

12.5 % Parent, 87.5 % Daughter 3 Half Lives

6.25% Parent, 93.75 % Daughter 4 Half Lives

 Graph of data: Decay Curve
100

% Parent
50

25

12.5
6.25
1 2 3 4 5
Half Lives
 Using Half Life to find Age
• If you know the number of years there
are in an elements half-life, you can figure
out the age of a rock.

– The number of years in an elements’ half-life

would be the number of YEARS it takes for
HALF of the radioactive elements in the rock
to turn into stable elements.
 Example
• The number of years in a half-life for
Carbon-14 is 5,730.
– So….. If one half-life has passed, the rock is
5,730.
If two half-lives have passed, the rock is
11,460 years old.
Samples of Half-Lives
 Questions
• If a rock contains 50% parent material, how
many half-lives have passed?
• If a rock contains 12.5 % parent material, how
many half-lives have passed?
• If a rock’s half-life is 25 years, and two half-lives
have passed, how old is the rock?
• If a rock’s half-life is 50 years, and three half-
lives have passed, how old is the rock?
Half Life, 1/2