this post was submitted on 27 May 2026
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I actually have a question on a similar topic
How does carbon dating work? Sure, things made in the past have some carbon-14 broken down, but don't the raw materials used in making today's products do just the same?
What makes carbon-14 break down differently in things made before and raw materials we use today?
As Thalfon said, the Carbon 14 decays at a predictable rate.
So where does the starting quantity come from?
Radiation from space (probably cosmic rays) interacting with the atmosphere causes some of the atoms to become a different isotope. Plants integrate C14 into their sugars and cellulose, and when they are dead and buried by sediment, no more C14 is integrated. While buried, the plant matter is sheilded from further radiation, the C14 decays at a predictable rate, and we measure that. Meanwhile, underground carbon like coal and oil is also sheilded from radiation and doesn't get converted to C14; instead any C14 decays into C12. Thus the problem with Carbon dating after the industrial revolution.
So, the reason the ratio changes in fossils is that they get underground and are shielded from radiation? But then we can only tell how long has it been sitting underground?
I don't think the burial matters. It's not random atoms that are turned into C14. It's specifically nitrogen. And I think those interactions mainly happen in the upper atmosphere with cosmic rays. So it's the atmosphere providing the shielding.
The Wikipedia page for this explains it pretty well, especially the Physical and Chemical Details section.
Thank you for the clarification