Absolute Dating

Scientists use radiometric dating (radioactive decay) to measure...

• relative time (dating)

• absolute time (dating)

• half-lives

• time of day

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Why are isotopes with short half-lives not useful for dating very old rocks?

• because not enough of the parent isotope remains to measure accurately

• because not enough of the daughter product has formed to be detectable

• because neither the parent isotope nor the daughter product will be detectable

• because very old rocks would never have contained these isotopes

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Scientists use radioactive decay to measure...

• relative time

• absolute time

• half-lives

• time of day

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

This type of dating involves radioactive decay, actual age in number of years...

• relative

• absolute

• superposition

• all of the above

Tags

NGSS.MS-ESS1-4

How does absolute age differ from relative age?

• only absolute dating indicates which rock is older than another

• only absolute dating finds the age in years

• only relative dating finds the age in years

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

The length of time required for half of the radioactive atoms in a sample to decay is its...

• era

• age

• half-life

• eon

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

Geologists use radioactive dating to determine THE ABSOLUTE AGE OF ROCKS.

• True

• False

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5

Radiometric dating is possible because the rates of decay of radioactive isotopes _____.

• change over time

• change from place to place

• are constant

• vary widely

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

If the half-life of a radioactive group of atoms is 100 years, then how old is the rock if there have been two half-lives?

• 25 years

• 200 years

• 400 years

• 800 years

Tags

NGSS.HS-PS1-8

_______________is the method of determining the absolute ages of rocks.

• radiometric dating

• relative dating

Tags

NGSS.HS-ESS1-5