221k views
1 vote
Why would carbon 14 not be useful for dating something in the precambrian era?

User Kuberchaun
by
5.2k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Answer:

Not good for such old age

Step-by-step explanation:

Carbon 14's half-life is about 5,700 years. So, it cannot be used to date something more recent than that. Also, due to the decay, it cannot be used on items older than about 50,000 years.

Then youngest a sample from the precambrian era could be is about 541,000,000 years (541 millions), so it's WAY past the range of use of Carbon 14, since there wouldn't be any carbon 14 left in the sample to evaluate the age through C14's half-life cycle.

User Juangcg
by
5.7k points