Re: [Phys-L] carbon dating

[o a <omarakhtar01@gmail.com>]

just my 2 cents, but at the HS level focussing on neutron capture and
proton emission should be good

On Wed, Dec 4, 2024, 9:53 a.m. Anthony Lapinski via Phys-l <
phys-l@mail.phys-l.org> wrote:

> Trying to teach "basic" radioactivity to my high school astronomy students
> about the age of the Earth.
>
> My understanding is this:
>
> Cosmic rays hit N-14 (7p, 7n) in the atmosphere to create C-14 (6 p, 8 n).
> Plants take CO2 from atmosphere. Animal eats plants. Animal dies.
> C-14 then decays into N-14 with a half-life of 5730 years, etc.
> (Inorganic materials - use isotopes with longer half-lives...)
>
> So how does N-14 become C-14? Nuclear forces? Quarks?
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