Why radiometric dating is inaccurate

How reliable is radiometric dating?

The reliability of radiometric dating is subject to three unprovable assumptions that every geologist must make when using the radioactive “clock”. Radioactive rocks offer a similar “clock.” Radioactive atoms, such as uranium (the parent isotopes), decay into stable atoms, such as lead (the daughter isotopes), at a measurable rate.

What is the most common radiometric dating method for uranium?

One common radiometric dating method is the Uranium-Lead method. This involves uranium isotopes with an atomic mass of 238. This is the most common form of uranium.

Why do creationists question radiometric dating methods?

Other radiometric dating methods are based on similar assumptions. If the assumptions cannot be trusted, then the calculations based on them are unsound. It is for this reason that creationists question radiometric dating methods and do not accept their results.

What are the assumptions of radioactive dating?

The assumptions on which the radioactive dating is based are not only unprovable but plagued with problems. As this article has illustrated, rocks may have inherited parent and daughter isotopes from their sources, or they may have been contaminated when they moved through other rocks to their current locations.

Can all radiometric dating methods be wrong?

In regard to the radiometric dating of rocks, it is known that various different radiometric methods often yield quite discordant dates for the same rock, thus proving that they cannot all be correct.

What is the most common radiometric dating method for uranium?

One common radiometric dating method is the Uranium-Lead method. This involves uranium isotopes with an atomic mass of 238. This is the most common form of uranium.

How is radiometric dating used to date fossils?

Radiometric dating is based on the half-lives of the radioactive isotopes. These half-lives have been measured over the last 40-90 years. They are not calibrated by fossils.

Why do scientists reject all but the oldest dating methods?

Yet when asked why they reject all but the oldest science-based dating methods, the answer often given is that (they think) long-age radiometric dating is more reliable and that science settled the matter of the earth’s age many years ago.

What are the assumptions of radiometric dating?

The field of radiometric dating persists despite these mountains of assumptions. Each calculation assumes universal constants that are assumed, constant decay rates that are assumed, and original conditions, including those assumed.

How are radioactive rocks dated?

Radioactive rocks offer a similar “clock.” Radioactive atoms, such as uranium (the parent isotopes), decay into stable atoms, such as lead (the daughter isotopes), at a measurable rate. To date a radioactive rock, geologists first measure the “sand grains” in the top glass bowl (the parent radioisotope, such as uranium-238 or potassium-40).

What are the requirements of isotope dating?

Isotope dating satisfies this requirement, as daughter products do not decay back to the original parent element. 2) The process must occur at a relatively uniform rate. It has been established through extensive experimentation that radioactive decay occurs at a constant rate. 3) The initial condition must be known.

Can radiometric dating be used to date sedimentary rocks?

There is a discussion of a few examples of radiometric methods with sedimentary rocks in Mythology of Modern Dating Methods. Creationists believe that the assumptions of radiometric dating are invalid and cannot be proven.