Carbon 14 (Noun)
Meaning
A radioactive isotope of carbon.
Classification
Nouns denoting substances.
Examples
- The age of the ancient artifact was determined by measuring the amount of carbon-14 it contained.
- Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of carbon that is used in radiocarbon dating to determine the age of organic materials.
- The half-life of carbon-14 is approximately 5,730 years, which makes it useful for dating objects that are up to around 50,000 years old.
- Scientists use carbon-14 to date the remains of plants and animals that lived in the past.
- The amount of carbon-14 in a sample of wood was measured to determine the age of the tree from which it came.