In Carbon Dating, which element does Carbon-14 decay into?

In Carbon Dating, Carbon-14 decays into Nitrogen. The process begins with Carbon-14, a radioactive isotope of carbon that is present in the atmosphere and taken up by living organisms. When an organism dies, it stops absorbing Carbon-14, and the existing Carbon-14 begins to decay at a known rate, known as its half-life.

During the decay process, Carbon-14 transforms into Nitrogen-14 through beta decay. In this decay, a neutron in the Carbon-14 nucleus is transformed into a proton, which results in the release of a beta particle (an electron) and an antineutrino. The newly formed nitrogen atom has one more proton than the carbon atom, classifying it as nitrogen instead of carbon.

This understanding of Carbon-14 decay into nitrogen is crucial for radiocarbon dating, which is widely used in archaeology and geology to date ancient organic materials. It leverages the predictable decay rate of Carbon-14 to estimate the time elapsed since the death of an organism.