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Measuring residual radioactive carbon-14 yields ages for organic items up to 50,000 years. The figure is taken from NIST, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.

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Carbon-14 decay allows dating of ancient organic remains

Measuring residual radioactive carbon-14 yields ages for organic items up to 50,000 years

Radiocarbon dating measures the decay of radioactive carbon-14 isotopes absorbed by living organisms during their lifetime. When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon, and its internal carbon-14 decays into nitrogen-14 with a half-life of roughly 5,730 years. By comparing carbon-14 ratios to stable carbon-12, scientists determine when the organism died.

Where this comes from

NIST

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Tags: earth science, radiocarbon, archaeology

Carbon-14 decay allows dating of ancient organic remains: the short answers

Where does this come from, and can I check it?: Measuring residual radioactive carbon-14 yields ages for organic items up to 50,000 years. The figure is taken from NIST, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
Is this really a science fact?: Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 1,090 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
What else can I read about it?: The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.