Radiokarbondátolás

Radiokarbondátolás, also known as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials. It relies on the decay of carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon. Living organisms constantly exchange carbon with their environment, including carbon-14. When an organism dies, this exchange stops, and the carbon-14 within its remains begins to decay at a known rate, with a half-life of approximately 5,730 years. By measuring the amount of remaining carbon-14 in a sample and comparing it to the expected amount in a living organism, scientists can calculate how long ago the organism died. This technique is effective for dating materials up to around 50,000 years old. Beyond this age, the amount of carbon-14 remaining is too small to be accurately measured. Radiokarbondátolás has been instrumental in various fields, including archaeology, paleontology, and geology, providing crucial insights into the past. However, the accuracy of the dating can be affected by factors such as contamination of the sample or variations in atmospheric carbon-14 levels over time, which are often accounted for through calibration curves.