Name Class Date

CHAPTER 6 The Rock and Fossil Record

SECTION

3 Absolute Dating: A Measure of Time

National Science
BEFORE YOU READ Education Standards
After you read this section, you should be able to answer ES 2b
these questions:
• How can geologists learn the exact age of a rock?
• What is radiometric dating?

What Is Radioactive Decay?

Geologists can use the methods of relative dating to STUDY TIP
learn whether a rock is older or younger than another Learn New Words As you
rock. However, they often also need to know exactly how read, underline words that
you don’t understand. When
old a rock is. Finding the exact age of an object is called you learn what they mean,
absolute dating. One way to learn the age of a rock is to write the words and their
use unstable atoms. definitions in your notebook.
All matter, including rock, is made of atoms. All atoms
are made of three kinds of particles: protons, neutrons,
and electrons. All of the atoms of an element, such as
uranium, have the same number of protons. However,
some atoms of an element have different numbers of neu-
trons. Atoms of an element that have different numbers
of neutrons are called isotopes. READING CHECK
Many isotopes are stable and are always in the same 1. Define What are isotopes?
form. However, other isotopes are unstable and can
break down into new isotopes of different elements. An
unstable isotope is also called a radioactive isotope.
Radioactive decay happens when a radioactive isotope
breaks down into a new isotope.
Proton

Neutron
Electron After radioactive
decay, an isotope
of a new element
is left. The new
isotope is stable.
TAKE A LOOK
This isotope is unstable, 2. Compare How is a
or radioactive. radioactive isotope different
from a stable isotope?
Radioactive isotopes can
decay in different ways.
During one kind of radioactive
decay, a neutron becomes a
proton and an electron.
The electron moves to a
different part of the atom.

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Interactive Textbook 97 The Rock and Fossil Record
Name Class Date

SECTION 3 Absolute Dating: A Measure of Time continued

RADIOMETRIC DATING
A radioactive isotope is also called a parent isotope.
Parent isotopes break down into daughter isotopes.
Critical Thinking Because of radioactive decay, the amounts of parent and
3. Infer What happens to daughter isotopes in a rock are always changing. However,
the amount of parent isotope they change at a constant, known rate. Therefore, scien-
in a rock with time? What
tists can learn the age of a rock by studying the amounts of
happens to the amount of
daughter isotope? parent and daughter isotopes in it.
Radiometric dating is the process of determining the
absolute age of a sample based on the ratio of parent iso-
tope to daughter isotope. In order to use radiometric dat-
ing, you need to know the half-life of the parent isotope.
The half-life of a radioactive isotope is how long it
takes for half of a sample of the isotope to decay. For
example, imagine that a parent isotope has a half-life of
10,000 years. A sample of this isotope has a mass of 12 mg.
After 10,000 years, only one-half, or 6 mg, of the sample
will be left.

YEARS YEARS
0ARENTISOTOPEMG 0ARENTISOTOPE

Math Focus
4HISSAMPLECONTAINS  MG ??????
MGOFAPARENT !FTERONEHALF LIFE
ISOTOPE4HEISOTOPE OFTHEORIGINAL
HASAHALF LIFEOF MASSOFPARENT
4. Calculate Fill in the blank YEARS ISOTOPEISLEFT

lines in the figure with the

mass of parent isotope that is
left at each step.

YEARS
YEARS 0ARENTISOTOPE
0ARENTISOTOPE    MG 
  MG ??????? ????????????
!FTERTWOHALF LIVES !FTERTHREEHALF LIVES
  OROF    
THEORIGINALMASSOF OROFTHEORIGINALMASSOF
PARENTISOTOPEISLEFT PARENTISOTOPEISLEFT

The half-lives of different isotopes can be very differ-

ent. Some parent isotopes have half-lives of more than
4 billion years. Others have half-lives of only about 6,000
years. Very old rocks can be dated only if isotopes with
long half-lives are used. Very young rocks can be dated
only if isotopes with short half-lives are used.
How do scientists know which isotope to use to find
the age of a rock? They use information about the rela-
tive age of the rock to guess about how old the rock is.
Then, they find its age, using an isotope that is useful for
dating rocks of that age.
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Interactive Textbook 98 The Rock and Fossil Record
Name Class Date

SECTION 3 Absolute Dating: A Measure of Time continued

What Isotopes Can Be Used for

Radiometric Dating?
Remember that different parent isotopes have different
half-lives. Each parent isotope can be used to date rocks of
different ages.

POTASSIUM-ARGON METHOD
Potassium-40 is one isotope that is often used in
radiometric dating. It has a half-life of 1.3 billion years.
It decays to produce the daughter isotope argon-40.
Scientists usually use the potassium-argon method to
date rocks that are older than about 1 million years. READING CHECK
5. Explain Using relative
URANIUM-LEAD METHOD
dating, a scientist learns that
Uranium-238 is also used for radiometric dating. It a rock is about 50,000 years
has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. It decays to produce old. Can the scientist use the
lead-206. Scientists use the uranium-lead method to date potassium-argon method
to find the exact age of this
rocks that are older than about 10 million years. rock? Explain your answer.

RUBIDIUM-STRONTIUM METHOD
Rubidium-87 is also used for radiometric dating. It has
a half-life of about 48 billion years. It decays to produce
the daughter isotope strontium-87. The half-life of
rubidium-87 is very long. Therefore, this method is only
useful for dating rocks older than about 10 million years.

CARBON-14 METHOD
Carbon-14 is a radioactive isotope of the element carbon.
Carbon-14, along with the other isotopes of carbon, com-
bines with oxygen to form the gas carbon dioxide. Plants
use carbon dioxide to make food. Therefore, living plants
are always taking in small amounts of carbon-14. Animals
that eat plants also take in carbon-14 from the plants. READING CHECK
When a plant or animal dies, it stops taking in carbon-14. 6. Describe How do animals
The carbon-14 already in its body starts to decay to produce take in carbon-14?
nitrogen-14. Carbon-14 has a short half-life: only 5,730 years.
Therefore, this method can be used to date the remains of
organisms that died in the last 50,000 years.

Parent isotope Daughter isotope Half-life

Potassium-40 TAKE A LOOK
Uranium-238 7. Identify Fill in the spaces
in the chart to show the
Rubidium-87
features of different parent
Carbon-14 isotopes.
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Interactive Textbook 99 The Rock and Fossil Record
Name Class Date

Section 3 Review NSES ES 2b

SECTION VOCABULARY
absolute dating any method of measuring the radioactive decay the process in which a
age of an event or object in years radioactive isotope tends to break down into a
half-life the time required for half of a sample stable isotope of the same element or another
of a radioactive isotope to break down by element
radioactive decay to form a daughter isotope radiometric dating a method of determining
isotope an atom that has the same number of the absolute age of an object by comparing the
protons (or the same atomic number) as other relative percentages of a radioactive (parent)
atoms of the same element do but that has a isotope and a stable (daughter) isotope
different number of neutrons (and thus a
different atomic mass)

1. Describe How is radioactive decay related to radiometric dating?

2. Calculate A parent isotope has a half-life of 1 million years. If a rock contained

20 mg of the parent isotope when it formed, how much parent isotope would be
left after 2 million years? Show your work.

3. List What are two radioactive isotopes that are useful for dating rocks that are
older than 10 million years?

4. Apply Concepts A geologist uses relative dating methods to guess that a rock is
between 1 million and 5 million years old. What is one radioactive isotope the
geologist can use to learn the exact age of the rock? Explain your answer.

5. Infer Why can’t geologists use the carbon-14 method to date igneous rocks? Why
can’t they use the carbon-14 method to date dinosaur bones?

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Interactive Textbook 100 The Rock and Fossil Record
 Earth Science Answer Key continued

8. Possible answers: There was no deposition 2. After 1 million years, there would be (1/2) 
happening at that time; there was a lot of (20 mg)  10 mg of parent isotope remaining.
erosion happening at that time. After 2 million years, (1/2)  (1/2)  (20 mg) 
9. erosion, nondeposition 5 mg of parent isotope would remain.
10. a place where part of a sequence of parallel 3. uranium-238, rubidium-87
rocks is missing 4. Potassium-40, because it can be used to date
11. Rocks are pushed up and eroded. Later, sedi- rocks that are older than about 1 million years.
ment is deposited on top of the eroded rock. 5. C-14 dating can be used only on the remains
12. The rock layers below an angular unconfor- of living organisms. Igneous rocks do not
mity are tilted and may be any kind of rock. contain these remains. C-14 dating can be
used only on remains that are less than
Review 50,000 years old. Dinosaur bones are older
1. An unconformity can form if no sediment is than this.
deposited for a long time. An unconformity can
also form if layers of rock are eroded away. SECTION 4 LOOKING AT FOSSILS
2. an angular unconformity 1. Body fossils are fossilized parts of an
3. The youngest rock layers are at the top, and organism. Trace fossils are signs that an
the oldest rock layers are at the bottom. organism once existed.
4. to interpret rock sequences and to identify 2. shells, teeth, bones
rock layers 3. when minerals replace an organism’s tissue
5. A sequence of rock layers is uplifted and 4. They are not made of parts of an organism,
eroded. Then, sediment is deposited on the but they show that an organism once existed.
exposed rock layers. After a while, the sedi- 5. an impression left in sediment
ment turns into rock. 6. the kinds of organisms that lived in the past;
how the environment has changed; how
SECTION 3 ABSOLUTE DATING: A organisms have changed
MEASURE OF TIME 7. Organisms that had hard parts or lived in
1. atoms of an element with different numbers certain environments were more likely to be
of neutrons fossilized when they died.
2. Radioactive isotopes can break down. Stable 8. They compare fossils. They also compare
isotopes do not break down. fossils to living organisms.
3. The amount of parent isotope decreases, and 9. Answers include: according to their age, by
the amount of daughter isotope increases. absolute and relative dating methods
4. 8 mg 10. their shells
5. No, because K-Ar dating can be used only for
rocks that are older than about 1 million years. Review
6. by eating plants 1. tracks, burrows, coprolites
7. 2. Only a small fraction of the organisms that
Parent isotope Daughter Half-life
isotope
have existed in Earth’s history have been
fossilized. Many fossils have not yet been
Potassium-40 argon-40 1.3 billion years
discovered.
Uranium-238 lead-206 4.5 billion years
3. A beetle, because fossils in amber are made
Rubidium-87 strontium-87 48 billion years when an organism gets stuck in tree sap.
Carbon-14 nitrogen-14 5,730 years Smaller organisms that can be found on
trees are more likely than other organisms
Review
to become fossils in amber.
1. Radiometric dating uses known rates of
4. The climate was probably much warmer
radioactive decay to determine the age of a
when the plant was alive.
rock sample.
5. It must be common throughout the world. It
must have existed for a relatively short geo-
logic time. It must be easy to identify.

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Interactive Textbook Answer Key 40 Earth Science