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Author Topic:   Radioactive carbon dating
Nuggin
Member (Idle past 2493 days)
Posts: 2965
From: Los Angeles, CA USA
Joined: 08-09-2005


Message 22 of 221 (395600)
04-17-2007 1:33 AM
Reply to: Message 19 by ArchArchitect
04-17-2007 1:24 AM


Re: Carbon Dating is False because...
(I'm assuming that the people who read this would know what Carbon Dating is).
We are, unfortunately the same can't be said about the person writing it.
Radio-carbon dating is about isotope decay not amount of carbon.
If you have a two ton block of carbon that's 10,000 years old and a two ouch piece of carbon that's 10,000 years old, the rate of isotope decay is the same.
The amount of carbon and the heat in and around the carbon has no effect on the radioactivity.
If heat did "speed up" radioactive decay, nuclear plants would run outta fuel at incredible rates.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 19 by ArchArchitect, posted 04-17-2007 1:24 AM ArchArchitect has not replied

  
Nuggin
Member (Idle past 2493 days)
Posts: 2965
From: Los Angeles, CA USA
Joined: 08-09-2005


Message 85 of 221 (396258)
04-19-2007 11:53 AM
Reply to: Message 71 by Juraikken
04-19-2007 12:07 AM


The dreaded c-14 virus!
he coulda had a c-14 disease in his body that could have depleted the c-14
This statement leads me to believe that you either don't understand "c-14", "disease" or "deplete".
I'll try to clear this up.
c-14 is a naturally occuring version of the carbon atom in our atmosphere. Therefore, anything interacting with the atmosphere (breathing) or interacting with things which interact with the atmosphere (eatting them) will be exposed to C-14 on a regular and ongoing process.
The carbon which exists in your body got there somehow. It did't just appear. So, within your body right now, a certain percentage of your carbon is c-14 carbon. And, as long as you keep breathing and eating, that percentage is going to stay the same as it appears in the atmosphere.
This is true for all living things.
When you say "disease" I assume you mean one of 3 things - either bacterial infection, viral infection or non-infectious degradation (heart disease, cystic fibrosis).
In all these cases, the "disease" is comprised of living matter, which like "all living things" as stated above, has the same percentage of c-14.
Now, there are conditions which exist which reduce the body's iron for example. But there are no conditions which reduce the bodies carbon. Carbon is the building block, hence the term "carbon-based life".
Even if there was a condition which reduced the amount of carbon in the body, it could not selectively remove the carbon-14 from the molecules to which it is attached. It could only blanket remove carbon.
Since the proportion of C-14 to regular carbon is stable, removing any amount of carbon will have no effect on the proportion of c-14 in the body.
When the living thing stops interacting with the atmosphere (dies), it stops replenishing the C-14 in the body. At this point, the percentage of C-14 starts to decrease.
Eventually, all the c-14 has decreased, causing an end date to this measuring method.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 71 by Juraikken, posted 04-19-2007 12:07 AM Juraikken has not replied

  
Nuggin
Member (Idle past 2493 days)
Posts: 2965
From: Los Angeles, CA USA
Joined: 08-09-2005


Message 86 of 221 (396260)
04-19-2007 11:57 AM
Reply to: Message 71 by Juraikken
04-19-2007 12:07 AM


Volcanos
if you were to fall in a volcano and millions of years later your bones be exposed to people, you think they woudlnt know at all that you were burned?
Totally screwed up the response here.
1st of all, no living thing leaves behind a trace if it's bathing in magma.
2nd you can burn bones all you want, it won't effect the percentage of c-14
Here's what you SHOULD have talked about -
When volcanos erupt, they spew A LOT of carbon into the local atmosphere. Most, if not all of this carbon contains no C-14. As a result, in and around volcanic eruptions, the percentages of C-14 could be disrupted.
Here's the problem with this statement though:
OF COURSE we're going to notice there was an eruption. It's not like they are carbon dating Pompeii and not realizing that the 20 ft of ash came from someplace.
And, when there is volcanic eruptions, it gives us access to a whole host of other dating methods which allow us to better predict the dates of what we are measuring, even if the c-14 is screwed up at that one spot at that one time.

This message is a reply to:
 Message 71 by Juraikken, posted 04-19-2007 12:07 AM Juraikken has not replied

  
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