Why is carbon-14 more appropriate then uranium-235 for dating archeological sites?
Carbon 14 is appropriate for two reasons. First, it decays rapidly (has a short half life). Since most archeological sites are relatively recent considering the age of the Earth it is necessary to use something that decays rapidly in order to produce a significant amount of daughter. Second, the reason for dating the archeological site is to determine when a particular group of people occupied the site. If you date the rocks at the site you are dating the rocks not the people and when the site was built. So archeologists use organic material, such as wooden beams from houses or fireplaces, cloth, or skeletal material for dating purposes. All of these organic materials contain C-14. 19. You find a rock which contains 75% uranium-235 (U-235) and 25% lead-207 (Pb-207). Refer to the table of radioactive elements and answer the following questions. a. Which of the two elements is the parent and which is the daughter? b. In order for radiometric dating to be accurate, how much lead-207 must
