Nanochemist Suze Kundu said the process of carbon dating in a presentation for the Royal Institution [1].

Understanding this technique is fundamental to archaeology and geology because it provides a reliable clock for dating organic remains. By measuring isotopic decay, researchers can establish timelines for human history and prehistoric environments.

Kundu said carbon dating is a method that measures the amount of the radioactive isotope carbon-14 that has decayed within a sample [1]. This process relies on the fact that carbon-14 is present in all living organisms. When an organism dies, it stops absorbing carbon from the atmosphere, and the existing carbon-14 begins to break down at a known rate [1].

By comparing the remaining amount of carbon-14 to the stable isotopes of carbon, scientists can calculate how much time has passed since the organism was alive [1]. This chemical signature acts as a biological stopwatch, allowing for the dating of bones, charcoal, and other organic matter.

Kundu said these insights during a short educational session hosted by the Royal Institution [1]. The presentation aimed to simplify the complex nuclear chemistry involved in isotopic analysis for a general audience [1].

“Carbon dating works by measuring the decay of carbon-14.”

The use of carbon-14 dating represents a cornerstone of chronometric dating in the sciences. By leveraging the predictable decay rate of radioactive isotopes, researchers can move beyond relative dating—which only determines if something is older or younger than something else—to absolute dating, providing a specific numerical age for organic artifacts.