ANTH 1500 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Willard Libby, Manhattan Project, Carbon-14
Document Summary
P votal t me everything we see now is because of this time. 12-10 k origins of agriculture in the near east. 14"c dating (radio carbon) (the person who created dating 14c); willard libby, 1949 physical chemist. Member of manhattan project, developed radiocarbon dating, nj sewer system inspired. Radiocarbon technique: 14 c; radioactive carbon isotope, very rare isotope. Its produce in the upper levels of the atmosphere from 14 n. Radiation decay (the decay process is constant: 14 n-----------------------------------> 14c----------->14 n turning one element into another, subject to a constant radioactive decay, 12 c: most common and stable carbon isotope . At any particular time, all living organisms have approximately the same ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14 in their tissues. When an organism dies it ceases to replenish carbon in its tissues and the decay of carbon 14 to nitrogen 14 changes the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14.
