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Uranium dating is not better but is used for long times in geology; carbon 14 is used for short times in Archaeology.
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DevinUranium-238 dating is better than carbon-14 dating for dating older geological samples because its half-life is much longer (4.5 billion years compared to 5,730 years for carbon-14). This makes it ideal for dating rocks that are billions of years old, whereas carbon-14 dating is best suited for more recent materials up to about 50,000 years old.
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How do you date a fossil other than carbon dating?
Fossils can also be dated using methods like potassium-argon dating, uranium-lead dating, and thorium-lead dating, which are based on the decay rates of specific radioactive isotopes found in the fossils. By measuring the amount of parent and daughter isotopes present in the fossil, scientists can determine its age.
Why do geologists use uranium 235?
Geologists use uranium-235 because it is a radioactive isotope that has a half-life of over 700 million years. This makes it useful for dating rocks and minerals, as well as studying geological processes over long time scales. Additionally, uranium-235 can provide insights into the Earth's history and formation.
What are the limitations of carbon14 dating?
Some limitations of carbon-14 dating include its inability to accurately date samples older than about 50,000 years due to the half-life of carbon-14 and potential contamination from other sources of carbon. Additionally, variations in atmospheric carbon levels over time can affect the accuracy of the dating process.
Does radioactive dating tell the relative age of rocks?
Radioactive dating techniques, such as radiocarbon dating or uranium-lead dating, provide an absolute age for rocks by measuring the decay of radioactive isotopes within them. This helps determine the actual age of rocks rather than their relative age.
What is the difference between a carbon atom and a uranium atom?
I won't even waste the time looking up actual numbers.a mole of atoms of helium is about 4 grams, therefor 1 gram of helium is about 0.25 moles of helium atomsa mole of atoms of uranium is about 238 grams, therefor 1 gram of uranium is about 0.0042 moles of uranium atomsA gram of helium contains more atoms than a gram of uranium by about a factor of 60.
