Absolute Age Dating

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What is Absolute Age Dating?

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The process of determining the exact age of a rock or fossil in years.

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What is Relative Dating?

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A method of determining the sequence of events in the geological history of rocks without determining their exact age.

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What does 'half-life' mean?

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The time required for half of the unstable element to break down. Scientists measure the amount of parent and daughter isotopes to determine the age of rocks.

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If a rock has a half-life of 100 years and the parent material decays to 25%, how old is the rock?

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200 years.

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What do scientists use to measure the absolute age of rocks?

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Radioactive decay.

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What will a newly cooled igneous rock contain?

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Only parent isotopes.

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What is a parent isotope?

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The original radioactive isotope that undergoes decay.

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What is a daughter isotope?

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The stable product that results from the decay of a parent isotope.

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How do scientists determine the age of rocks using radioactive decay?

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By measuring the ratio of parent isotopes to daughter isotopes.

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What is the significance of a short half-life in radioactive dating?

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Radioactive elements with short half-lives are useful for dating samples that are less than 60,000 years old.