Final answer:
Carbon dating is based on the decay of carbon-14 because it has a known half-life and ceases uptake into organisms after death, allowing for the determination of the time elapsed. This method, crucial for archaeology and paleontology, can date materials up to about 60,000 years old.
Step-by-step explanation:
The reason the carbon dating method is based upon the radioactive decay of naturally occurring C14 is that this particular radioisotope has properties that make it ideal for determining the ages of carbon-containing materials. Carbon-14 is continuously produced in the upper atmosphere through the interaction of cosmic rays with nitrogen atoms. All living organisms incorporate carbon-14 into their bodies at a constant rate while they are alive; however, when they die, they stop absorbing carbon, and the carbon-14 within them begins to decay at a known rate, identified as its half-life. The dating process utilizes the measurable decrease in carbon-14 to estimate the time that has elapsed since the death of the organism.
Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 years, and by measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining in a sample and comparing it to the current levels in the atmosphere, scientists can calculate the age of an object up to about 50,000 to 60,000 years old. This process, known as radiometric dating, has been instrumental in fields like archaeology and paleontology, helping to construct historical chronologies and understand ancient environments.