radiometric dating

noun

1. any method of determining the age of earth materials or objects of organic origin based on measurement of either short-lived radioactive elements or the amount of a long-lived radioactive element plus its decay product.

radiometric dating

noun

1. any method of dating material based on the decay of its constituent radioactive atoms, such as potassium-argon dating or rubidium-strontium dating Also calledradioactive dating

radiometric dating

/ rā′dē-ō-mĕt′rĭk /

1. A method for determining the age of an object based on the concentration of a particular radioactive isotope contained within it. For inorganic materials, such as rocks containing the radioactive isotope rubidium, the amount of the isotope in the object is compared to the amount of the isotope's decay products (in this case strontium). The object's approximate age can then be figured out using the known rate of decay of the isotope. For organic materials, the comparison is between the current ratio of a radioactive isotope to a stable isotope of the same element and the known ratio of the two isotopes in living organisms. Radiocarbon dating is one such type of radiometric dating.

Word History and Origins

Origin of radiometric dating¹

First recorded in 1965–70

Example Sentences

Led by experts from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, researchers used radiometric dating to determine the age of the volcanic rock.

From BBC

The breakthrough in dating the fossils was due to the work of the lead author of the paper, Pembrokeshire-born PhD student Tony Clarke, who has been working on radiometric dating at Curtin University in Perth, Western Australia.

From BBC

When that lunar magma ocean cooled, that's when the zircon crystals could finally form, locking in chemical signatures that the Field Museum scientists can now measure with radiometric dating technology.

From Salon

After determining the materials in the sample and performing radiometric dating, the researchers concluded that the oldest crystals are about 4.46 billion years old.

From Science Daily

"Radiometric dating works a little bit like an hourglass," said the Field Museum's Philipp Heck, the study's senior author.

From Science Daily