GEO 303 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Radioactive Decay, Absolute Dating, Half-Life

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Age of fossil or rock is commonly given in. Rocks contain radioactive minerals which are constantly disintigrating at a steady rate. Under certain circumstances, these atomic clocks can be read to be given a time. The time determines what has happened to the rocks since the clocks were set. The number of protons in an atom determines which element it is. If you change the number of protons, the element changes and the mass changes. Isotopes: atoms of the same element that have different numbers of neutrons: you can have a couple more neutrons and not have a radioactive isotope. If you have too many neutrons, the process of the atom getting rid of those neutrons is called radioactive decay-- decomposition of element. The nuclei of these radioactive atoms change or decay by giving off radiation in the form of radioactive decay. If they have the right amount of neutrons- stable.

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