radiocarbon dating

1. N a technique for determining the age of organic materials, such as wood, based on their content of the radioisotope 14C acquired from the atmosphere when they formed part of a living plant. The 14C decays to the nitrogen isotope 14N with a half-life of 5730 years. Measurement of the amount of radioactive carbon remaining in the material thus gives an estimate of its age 放射性碳测定年代法 (Also called carbon-14 dating)