Radiocarbon helps date ancient objects—but its not perfect. For nearly 70 years, archaeologists have been measuring carbon-14 levels to date sites and artifacts. Nothing good can last—and in the case of carbon-14, a radioactive isotope found in Earths atmosphere, thats great news for archaeologists.

How can you date a material using radioactive elements?

Radiometric dating, often called radioactive dating, is a technique used to determine the age of materials such as rocks. It is based on a comparison between the observed abundance of a naturally occurring radioactive isotope and its decay products, using known decay rates.

What makes a radioactive decay chain end answers?

A radioactive decay chain will end when the last particle formed is stable. The initial radioactive isotope is called the parent isotope.

What makes a radioactive chain end?

A radioactive decay chain will end when the last particle formed is stable. The initial radioactive isotope is called the parent isotope. It decays

What is a radioactive decay series when does it end?

radioactive series, any of four independent sets of unstable heavy atomic nuclei that decay through a sequence of alpha and beta decays until a stable nucleus is achieved.