Radioactive Carbon Dating Another nuclear reaction that we can take advantage of is the decay of carbon-14. Now, carbon-14 has a half-life of about 5,730 years, so every 5,730 years, half of it is going to decay into nitrogen. The more carbon-14 that an artifact has, the more recent it is.

Is carbon dating nuclear?

Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon.

Is the decay of carbon-14 a nuclear reaction?

Carbon-12 and carbon-13 are both stable, while carbon-14 is unstable and has a half-life of 5,730 ± 40 years. Carbon-14 decays into nitrogen-14 through beta decay .Carbon-14.GeneralDecay modeDecay energy (MeV)Beta0.156476Isotopes of carbon Complete table of nuclides10 more rows