Explain how carbon dating works and discuss its reliability in relation to half-life.

Solution & explanation

Living material exchanges carbon; after death its C-14 declines with half-life about 5730 years. Estimate remaining fraction and use N/N₀ = (1/2)^(t/T½), then calibrate for historical atmospheric variation. Contamination and measurement uncertainty matter. At many half-lives little remains, limiting useful ages; not all fossils retain suitable original carbon.