Radiokarbondöntések

Radiokarbondöntések, also known as radiocarbon dating, is a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials. It relies on the decay of a radioactive isotope of carbon, carbon-14 (¹⁴C). Living organisms absorb carbon from their environment, including both stable carbon isotopes (¹²C and ¹³C) and the radioactive isotope ¹⁴C. When an organism dies, it stops exchanging carbon with its environment. The ¹⁴C within the organism then begins to decay at a known rate, with a half-life of approximately 5,730 years.

Scientists measure the ratio of remaining ¹⁴C to stable carbon isotopes in a sample. By comparing this ratio to the expected ratio in a living organism, they can calculate how much time has passed since the organism's death. This technique is particularly useful for dating materials up to around 50,000 years old, as after this point, the amount of ¹⁴C remaining becomes too small to measure accurately. Radiocarbon dating has been applied to a wide range of fields, including archaeology, paleontology, geology, and art history, providing crucial insights into the past. Calibration curves are used to refine the dating results, accounting for variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C levels over time.