Consider the following statements:

The most abundant isotope of carbon in the atmosphere is C-14.

The ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the atmosphere is almost static, and is known.

Which of the statements given above is/are correct?

Question

Carbon dating is a widely-used method to establish the age of organic materials, things that were once living.
The most abundant isotope of carbon in the atmosphere is C-12.
The ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the atmosphere is almost static, and is known.
The Carbon Dating method cannot be used to determine the age of non-living things like rocks, for example.
Also, the age of things that are more than 40,000-50,000 years old cannot be arrived at through carbon dating.
This is because after 8-10 cycles of half-lives, the amount of C-14 becomes almost very small and is almost undetectable.
While C-12 is stable, the radioactive C-14 reduces to one half of itself in about 5,730 years — known as its ‘half-life’.
The changing ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the remains of a plant or animal after it dies can be measured and can be used to deduce the approximate time when the organism died.

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Carbon dating is a widely-used method to establish the age of organic materials, things that were once living.
The most abundant isotope of carbon in the atmosphere is C-12.
The ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the atmosphere is almost static, and is known.
The Carbon Dating method cannot be used to determine the age of non-living things like rocks, for example.
Also, the age of things that are more than 40,000-50,000 years old cannot be arrived at through carbon dating.
This is because after 8-10 cycles of half-lives, the amount of C-14 becomes almost very small and is almost undetectable.
While C-12 is stable, the radioactive C-14 reduces to one half of itself in about 5,730 years — known as its ‘half-life’.
The changing ratio of C-12 to C-14 in the remains of a plant or animal after it dies can be measured and can be used to deduce the approximate time when the organism died.

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