But subsequent investigations have revealed it to be wholly inadequate for accurate dating of ancient materials. evolution—a Creation-Evolution Encyclopedia, brought to you by Creation Science Facts. This is because, with a half-life of only 5,730 years, initial radiocarbon in a fossil decreases in about ten half-lives to a level too low to be measured."—Robert E.CONTENTS: Scientists Speak about Radiocarbon Dating This material is excerpted from the book, DATING OF TIME IN EVOLUTION. Lee, "Radiocarbon: Ages in Error," in Creation Research Society Quarterly, September 1982, pp. But only the scientific community is told that fact.In general it is always better to date a properly identified single entity (such as a cereal grain or an identified bone) rather than a mixture of unidentified organic remains.Common materials for radiocarbon dating are: The radiocarbon formed in the upper atmosphere is mostly in the form of carbon dioxide. Because the carbon present in a plant comes from the atmosphere in this way, the radio of radiocarbon to stable carbon in the plant is virtually the same as that in the atmosphere.Radiocarbon dating is a method of determining the age of an object by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.The method was invented by Willard Libby in the late 1940s and soon became a standard tool for archaeologists.

Of over 4,000 quotations in the books this Encyclopedia is based on, only 164 statements are by creationists. One is that the carbon 14 concentration in the carbon dioxide cycle is constant.

This means that things like stone, metal and pottery cannot usually be directly dated by this means unless there is some organic material embedded or left as a residue.

As explained below, the radiocarbon date tells us when the organism was alive (not when the material was used).

Follow the links below to learn more about radiocarbon dating. Radiocarbon dating uses carbon isotopes A special kind of radiocarbon dating: Bomb radiocarbon dating What is an isotope?

To understand radiocarbon dating, you first have to understand the word Although an element’s number of protons cannot change, the number of neutrons can vary slightly from each atom.