After 5,730 years, half (or 50 carbon-14 atoms) would remain. After another 5,730 years only half of those 50 (or 25 carbon-14 atoms would remain.) Think of the red ink molecules slowly disappearing at the same rate. The whole validity of radiocarbon dating for the past 10,000 years---the time span of interest to biblical chronology---hangs only on the tree-ring chronologies which are used to calibrate it. .) This process does not involve any assumption about historic radiocarbon to stable carbon ratios because the radiocarbon concentration in the tree-ring samples would be affected in exactly the same way as the radiocarbon concentration in the specimen to be dated. To quote again from The Answers Book: Some recent, though controversial, research has raised the interesting suggestion that c (the speed of light) has decreased in historical times. If it is correct, then radioactive decay rates would automatically be affected, and would show artifically high ages. (Ham et al., page 72.) As with Assertion 1, Assertion 2 fails to account for the tree-ring calibration which is a routine part of modern radiocarbon dating. In this interactive, learn how radiocarbon dating works, what it takes to determine a date in the lab, and why it's challenging to pinpoint a date precisely. The following article is primarily based on a discussion of radiocarbon dating found in The Biblical Chronologist Volume 5, Number 1. Radiocarbon dating is based on a few relatively simple principles. The vast majority of these are C (pronounced "c twelve"), the stable isotope of carbon. Is this assumption correct (for on it hangs the whole validity of the system)? (Ham et al., page 68.) C ratio in the past, or that this is "the technique's Achilles' heel" is incorrect.
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