Carbon Dating

How old is that fossil in the window? In this BrainPOP movie on carbon dating, Tim and Moby will teach you about how scientists use a radioactive isotope called carbon-14 to find out the answer! Learn about key terms like half-life, radioactive decay, and radiometric dating and what they all mean! You’ll also see how you can tell when a fossilized animal died by comparing the amount of carbon-14 that would have been in a living creature to the amount that’s left in the fossil. Carbon dating is cool!

Watch the Technology movie about Carbon Dating »