Radiocarbon Dating
A dating technique that determines the age of organic material from its residual carbon-14 content.
Formula / equation
t = (t½ / 0.693) ln(N₀/N)
Unit
years
In depth
Living organisms exchange carbon with the atmosphere and maintain a constant carbon-14 level, which begins to fall on death with a 5730-year half-life. The method is reliable to about 50,000 years and must be calibrated against tree rings to correct for past atmospheric variation.
Examples in the real world
Dating the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Turin Shroud; establishing the age of Ötzi the Iceman at about 5300 years.