Final answer:
Carbon-14 dating is used to determine the age of organic materials. It relies on measuring the decay of carbon-14 in an organism after it dies, using the ratio of carbon-14 to carbon-12 to calculate the time since death.
Step-by-step explanation:
Carbon is used to date organic materials through a process known as radiocarbon dating. This method utilizes the unstable isotope carbon-14 (14C), which is taken in by plants and animals during their life. In living organisms, there is a constant ratio of carbon-14 to the stable isotope carbon-12 (12C). This ratio is maintained because living organisms continuously exchange carbon with their environment. However, when an organism dies, it no longer takes in 14C, and the 14C present in its tissues begins to decay at a known, constant rate, while the level of 12C remains unchanged. Over time, the ratio of 14C to 12C in the remains decreases.
By comparing the current 14C/12C ratio in the dead organic material with the ratio in living organisms, scientists can calculate how much time has passed since the organism's death. This is because the half-life of 14C, which is approximately 5,730 years, allows for the determination of the age of organic artifacts, which could be important for authenticity checks, such as verifying whether art works are original or counterfeit.