Carbon-14 - Definition and Overview

Carbon-14 is the radioactive isotope of carbon discovered February 27, 1940, by Martin Kamen and Sam Ruben. Its presence in organic materials is used in radiocarbon dating.

The half-life of carbon-14 is 5730 years. It decays into nitrogen-14 through beta-decay.

Isotopes of Carbon	Carbon-13	Carbon-15
Decay chain	Produced from: Nitrogen-18 Boron-14	Decays to: Nitrogen-14

Kamen, Martin D. Radiant Science, Dark Politics: A Memoir of the Nuclear Age, Forward by Edwin M. McMillan, Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.

Example Usage of Carbon-14
	jessicalomelin: @invisichildren building an "earthship" in Uganda & nominated for the Carbon 14 Award - crazy looking, but genius idea http://bit.ly/5N9PhY
	algebra_com: Estimating the age of a fossil- a fossilized leaf contains 70% of its normal amount of carbon 14. a) how old http://algebra.com/t/242016
	organicdemocrat: @TauntedTiger Do you even know what Carbon-14 is? #tcot #teaparty

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Carbon-14 - Definition and Overview

See also

Example Usage of Carbon-14