Radiocarbon dating and creationists

Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon -14 dating ) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon , a radioactive isotope of carbon . The method was developed in the late 1940s at the University of Chicago by Willard Libby, who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work in 1960. It is based on the fact that radiocarbon (14C) is constantly being created in the atmosphere by the interaction of cosmic rays

Radiocarbon dating can easily establish that humans have been on the earth for over twenty thousand years, at least twice as long as creationists are willing to allow. Therefore it should come as no surprise that creationists at the Institute for Creation Research (ICR) have been trying desperately to discredit this method for years. They have their work cut out for them, however, because radiocarbon (C-14) dating is one of the most reliable of all the radiometric dating methods. This article will answer several of the most common creationist attacks on carbon -14 dating , using the question-answer format that has proved so useful to lecturers and debaters. Question: How does carbon -14 dating work?

The field of radiocarbon dating has become a technical one far removed from the naive simplicity which characterized its initial introduction by Libby in the late 1940's. It is, therefore, not surprising that many misconceptions about what radiocarbon can or cannot do and what it has or has not shown are prevalent among creationists and evolutionists — lay people as well as scientists not directly involved in this field. Creationists are interested in the truth. This involves exposing areas of weakness and error in the conventional interpretation of radiocarbon results as well as suggesting better understandings of radiocarbon congruent with a Biblical, catastrophist, Flood model of earth history.

The Radiocarbon Dating of Recent Deposits This tool has become quite widely used and accepted in recent years and is important to our study since it professes to supply absolute dates for events within the past 30 or 40 thousand years. This, of course, covers the apparent periods of Biblical history, as well as more recent dates , and so bears directly upon the question of the Flood and other related events. The method was first developed by W. F. Libby in 1946. Since that time, literally thousands of such measurements have been made, by workers in many different laboratories, and a great variety of archaeological and Recent geological datings have been obtained.

In the case of radiocarbon dating , the parent is carbon -14 and the daughter is nitrogen-14, which is lost from the sample.[2] So we can’t find the initial amount of parent in the way described above, because we don’t know the amount of daughter. This seems like a dead end, until we remember where carbon -14 comes from. There are other creationist objections to radiocarbon dating , based on sample contamination or simple misinterpretation of data, but these have been discussed elsewhere and need not detain us. Lecture scene from Glasgow Skeptics in the Pub Facebook page. Atmospheric carbon -14 diagram public domain, by Hokanomono via Wikipedia. North Ronaldsay sheep by Liz Burke, CC BY-SA 2.0, commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=3499298.

Radiocarbon ( carbon -14 or 14C) forms continually today in the earth’s upper atmosphere. And as far as we know, it has been forming in the earth’s upper atmosphere at least since the Fall, after the atmosphere was made back on Day Two of creation week (part of the expanse, or firmament, described in Genesis 1:6–8). So how does radiocarbon form? Once radiocarbon is interpreted properly, it should help creationists date archeological remains from post-Flood human history, showing how they fit within the Bible’s chronology. Assumptions Change Estimates of Age. To solve this puzzle it is necessary to review the assumptions on which radiocarbon dating is based.

Radiocarbon dating is based on the incorrect assumption that C-14 is in equilibrium, the rate of formation equaling the rate of decay. But recent data show rate of formation is 18.4 and rate of decay 13.3 so that a non-equilibrium condition exists. This situation telescopes all radiocarbon ages to about 10,000 years or less. The C-14 method of dating not only confirms Biblical history, but creation also. Similarly the potassium-argon method cannot be used to establish ages older than about 7000 years. Libby found a discrepancy indicating a non-equilibrium in the build-up of terrestrial radiocarbon . But, since he was convinced that the earth was millions of years old, he decided the difference between the C-14 production rate of 19 atoms/gm-min.

Radiocarbon dating , which is also known as carbon -14 dating , is one widely used radiometric dating scheme to determine dates of ancient artifacts. In discussions of the age of the Earth and the antiquity of the human race, creationists often assail perceived weaknesses in radiocarbon dating . Henry M. Morris, for instance, wrote, "Despite its high popularity, [ radiocarbon dating ] involves a number of doubtful assumptions, some of which are sufficiently serious to make its results for all ages exceeding about 2000 or 3000 years, in serious need of revision."

Radiocarbon dating is relatively easy to visualize and understand on a basic level, unlike many other methods in geochronology. The atmosphere contains trace amounts of radioactive carbon (14C). Plants absorb that carbon through photosynthesis, and animals via plants. The process of sample preparation and analysis depends on the technique (gas proportional counting, liquid scintillation, or accelerator mass spectrometry, for example), of which each has its own limitations and potential for error and uncertainty. Mathematical corrections are complex, and the reliability of dates can even vary between samples. Hence geochronologists have devoted entire peer-reviewed journals to addressing the many challenges that arise.

Radiocarbon Dating — Calculates the effects that changes in the geomagnetic field and radiocarbon / carbon ratios, etc, on radioactive dating . Free Library. We have a large range of Christian and Creationist literature, CDs and DVDs that are available for borrowing within Australia. Please contact us for our list. 1 About 1% of natural carbon has an extra neutron, forming Carbon -13, which is also stable and non-radioactive.