Carbon 14 dating system

The variation is certainly partially the result of a change in the cosmic ray production rate of radiocarbon.

The cosmic-ray flux, and hence the production rate of C-14, is a function not only of the solar activity but also of the magnetic dipole moment of the Earth.4Though complex, this history of the earth’s magnetic field agrees with Barnes’ basic hypothesis, that the field has always freely decayed....

This has caused many in the church to reevaluate the biblical creation account, specifically the meaning of the word “day” in Genesis 1.

With our focus on one particular form of radiometric dating—carbon dating—we will see that carbon dating strongly supports a young earth.

Genesis 1 defines the days of creation to be literal days (a number with the word “day” always means a normal day in the Old Testament, and the phrase “evening and morning” further defines the days as literal days).

Since the Bible is the inspired Word of God, we should examine the validity of the standard interpretation of All radiometric dating methods use scientific procedures in the present to interpret what has happened in the past. Can carbon-14 dating help solve the mystery of which worldview is more accurate?

So, a carbon atom might have six neutrons, or seven, or possibly eight—but it would always have six protons.

If this claim is true, the biblical account of a young earth (about 6,000 years) is in question, since C dates of tens of thousands of years are common.1 When a scientist’s interpretation of data does not match the clear meaning of the text in the Bible, we should never reinterpret the Bible.

The illustration below shows the three isotopes of carbon.

Some isotopes of certain elements are unstable; they can spontaneously change into another kind of atom in a process called “radioactive decay.” Since this process presently happens at a known measured rate, scientists attempt to use it like a “clock” to tell how long ago a rock or fossil formed.

The procedures used are not necessarily in question. The secular (evolutionary) worldview interprets the universe and world to be billions of years old. The use of carbon-14 dating is often misunderstood.

Carbon-14 is mostly used to date once-living things (organic material). Carbon-14 is constantly being added to the atmosphere.