Technique
Think About It . . .
How old is Earth?
(law of superposition)
Just like laundry in a laundry
basket
Daughter: 0 8 12 14
In this example, each time this happened, 10,000
years had gone by.
So if it happened 3 times, then the object is:
3 x 10,000 = 30,000 yrs old
Pop Quiz
1) What method is used to figure out if a rock is
older or younger than other rocks?
RELATIVE DATING
2) What methods has helped scientists determine the
exact age of Earth?
ABSOLUTE DATING
3) Fill in this table:
5 15
A granite contains crystal with
150 ppma of U and 1,050
235
rock?
Determine the age of shale with
leaf fossils containing 21 ppma
14
C and 651 ppma of 14N. Look
up the half-life in Table 7.3.
Write out the complete step-by-
step procedure used to
determine your answer.