AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The abundances of parent and daughter isotopes in a sample can be measured and used to determine their age. This method is known as radiometric dating.

Detailed explanation-2: -The age of rocks is determined by radiometric dating, which looks at the proportion of two different isotopes in a sample. Radioactive isotopes break down in a predictable amount of time, enabling geologists to determine the age of a sample using equipment like this thermal ionization mass spectrometer.

Detailed explanation-3: -The rubidium-strontium method has been a popular method to determine the absolute age of geological processes. When discussing decay rates, scientists refer to “half-lives”-the length of time it takes for one-half of the original atom of the radioactive isotope to decay into an atom of a new isotope.

Detailed explanation-4: -Relative Dating Method Most of the time, the age of fossils is found through relative dating. As the name suggests, to estimate the age of a fossil, it is compared to other fossils or rocks where the age is already known.

Detailed explanation-5: -Radiocarbon dating (usually referred to simply as carbon-14 dating) is a radiometric dating method. It uses the naturally occurring radioisotope carbon-14 (14C) to estimate the age of carbon-bearing materials up to about 58, 000 to 62, 000 years old.