Argumentative Essay On Carbon Dating

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Can carbon dating disprove the creationist viewpoint that the earth is only 6000 years old? In 1952 W. F. Libby discovered a new method for calculating the age of organic material. Many people have been led to believe that carbon dating (and other radioactive dating methods) prove the Earth to be much older that 6000 years old (Biblical age). OWN IMAGE Carbon dating is the process of using the isotope carbon 14 and comparatively measuring the ratio of carbon 13 in the organic matter. Assuming that carbon 14 is constant and is being absorbed until the organism dies. This is why carbon FIG 1 dating can only be used on dead inanimate objects. Fig 1 (to the right) demonstrates the process of the development of carbon atoms. FIG 1.1 (SCIENTIFIC …show more content…

No matter how accurate and reliable the theory is, the results come from experimentation and trials. A report from Answers in Genesis has states a situation where a piece of wood located in “Hawkesbury Sandstone” in Sydney, Australia was designated a geological age of 225-230 million years old based on it’s position and the amount of rings present in the tree’s trunk. It was doubtful if the wood would contain and remaining C14 . Nevertheless a test was conducted. A sample of the wood was sent to Geochron Laboratories in Cambridge, Boston, USA. The final report indicated detectable radiocarbon had been found in the fossilised wood, a supposed C14 “age” of 33,720 ± 430 years. If this wood fossil was truly 225–230 million years of age, it should’ve been difficult to acquire a limited radiocarbon age as the C14 would of decayed to a point where it was undetectable. This would suggest that carbon dating is not yet an accurate method for dating …show more content…

How Does Radiocarbon Dating Work?. [video] Available at: http://www.scientificamerican.com/video/how-does-radiocarbon-dating-work-i2012-11-30/ [Accessed 2 Aug. 2015]. Trueauthority.com, (n.d.). TrueAuthority.com - Creation vs Evolution - Carbon Dating: It Doesn't Prove An Old Earth. [online] Available at: http://www.trueauthority.com/cvse/carbon.htm [Accessed 5 Aug. 2015]. Hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu, (n.d.). Carbon Dating. [online] Available at: http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/nuclear/cardat.html [Accessed 5 Aug. 2015]. Ncse.com, (1982). Answers to Creationist Attacks on Carbon-14 Dating | NCSE. [online] Available at: http://ncse.com/cej/3/2/answers-to-creationist-attacks-carbon-14-dating [Accessed 7 Aug. 2015]. Long, J. (n.d.). TrueAuthority.com - Creation vs Evolution - Carbon Dating: It Doesn't Prove An Old Earth. [online] Trueauthority.com. Available at: http://www.trueauthority.com/cvse/carbon.htm [Accessed 6 Aug. 2015]. Snelling, D. (1999). Dating Dilemma: Fossil Wood in “Ancient” Sandstone. [online] Answers in Genesis. Available at: https://answersingenesis.org/fossils/dating-dilemma-fossil-wood-in-ancient-sandstone/ [Accessed 7 Aug.

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