radiokarbondátázást

Radiokarbondátázás, often referred to as radiocarbon dating or carbon-14 dating, is a scientific method used to determine the age of organic materials. It relies on the principle that living organisms absorb carbon from the atmosphere, including a small amount of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 (¹⁴C). When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon, and the ¹⁴C within its remains begins to decay at a known and constant rate. This decay rate is measured in terms of half-life, which for carbon-14 is approximately 5,730 years.

The process involves measuring the remaining amount of ¹⁴C in a sample. By comparing the ratio of ¹⁴C to the stable isotope carbon-12 (¹²C) in the sample to the ratio found in living organisms, scientists can calculate how much time has passed since the organism's death. This technique is most effective for dating materials up to around 50,000 years old, as beyond this point, the amount of ¹⁴C remaining is too small to be reliably measured. Radiokarbondátázás has been instrumental in fields such as archaeology, paleontology, and geology, providing crucial chronological data for understanding past events and life forms. Calibration curves are used to account for variations in atmospheric ¹⁴C levels over time, improving the accuracy of the dates obtained.