Radiocarbon dating is limited to the remains of plants and animals that died no longer ago than about

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Radiocarbon dating is based on the decay of carbon-14, which has a half-life of 5,700 years. After about 40,000 years, there is too little carbon-14 left in a sample to be reliably measured, so radiocarbon dating is not useful for samples older than that. Therefore, the correct option is C - 40,000 years. Answer choices A and B are incorrect, as radiocarbon dating can be used to date samples much older than 100 or 5700 years. Answer choice D is also incorrect, as radiocarbon dating cannot be used to date samples millions of years old since the level of remaining carbon-14 would be too low to detect accurately.

Radiocarbon Dating Is Limited to the Remains of Plants and Animals