Question

Which measurement do geologists use to find the absolute age of once-living things?

amount of decayed daughter elements
total number of half-lives for the element potassium
age of ancient rocks located near the remains
amount of carbon-14 and nitrogen-14 in the remains

Answer 1

Answer;

amount of decayed daughter elements

Explanation;

• Absolute age is the age of a rock in years. Absolute age is found by measuring the amount of certain radioactive elements in the rock.
• During the formation of rock, small amounts of radioactive elements is normally included. As the time passes, the parent radioactive elements undergo decay at a regular rate into non-radioactive daughter elements.
• By measuring the rate at which a parent element decays and then the ratio of parent element to daughter element in the rock the age of rock in years can be found.