What is the basic principle of carbon fourteen detection?
There are 3 kinds of carbon isotopes in nature, and their weight ratio is 12:13:14. They are expressed by carbon -12, carbon -13 and carbon -14 respectively. The first two are stable isotopes. Carbon -14 is radioactive. It exists in the atmosphere and is generated in the upper atmosphere by cosmic rays, neutrons, and atmospheric nitrogen nuclei. It combines C4O2 molecules with oxygen in the atmosphere, which is the same as carbon dioxide (CO2). Therefore, it mixes with carbon dioxide to participate in the natural carbon exchange movement. It is absorbed by plants by photosynthesis and stored in plants. People and animals need to eat plants, so they are also stored in human and animal bodies. During the life of the organism, they continuously acquire the radioactive carbon from the atmosphere. But when an animal or plant dies, it stops absorbing and reduces the radioactive carbon in the body. For about 5730 years, its content could be attenuated by half. So physicists call the half-life 5730 years. Therefore, as long as the instruments to measure the trees, grain, animal bones and bone biological remains in the existing carbon content of -14, compared with its original carbon -14 level, you can calculate their death in many years ago, which can be inferred and their coexistence remains (such as construction sites, tombs or other relics how many years have elapsed since).Pro, please [adopted the answer], your adoption is the driving force for my answer, thank you.
Carbon fourteenCarbon fourteen, a radioactive isotope of carbon, was first discovered in 1940. It is produced by hitting twelve carbon atoms in the air through cosmic rays. Its half-life is about 5730 years, the decay is beta decay, and the carbon 14 atoms are converted to nitrogen atoms. Since its half-life is 5730 years, and carbon is one of the elements of organic matter, we can infer its age by the 14 component of the residual carbon in the dying organism. When living in the biological, because need to breathe, the carbon content of 14 in its body is about the same, the organisms die will stop breathing, at this time the carbon 14 in the body began to decrease. Since the proportion of carbon isotopes in nature is always stable, one can estimate the approximate age of an object by measuring its carbon 14 content. This method is called carbon dating. Other commonly used methods include potassium argon measurements, potassium argon measurements, thermoluminescence measurements, and others;
