EAS100 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Uranium-235, Radiometric Dating, Rubidium
28 Sep 2018
School
Department
Course
Professor
EAS100 verified notes
5/22View all
Document Summary
Eas 100 lecture 5 chemistry in earth sciences. An atom consists of a nucleus surrounded by electrons. The nucleus has positively charged protons and neutral neutrons. Important values: number of protons = atomic number on periodic table, total protons + neutrons = atomic mass. Many elements have various isotopes the same element with the same number of protons, but with a varying number of neutrons. Ex: carbon is usually stable in it"s most common form carbon 12. 14 which is radioactive and can be used for radiometric dating. By looking at how long it takes for half of a radioactive parent element to decay, we can accurately pinpoint how old an object is. This is very useful because radioactive decay is a nuclear process, which means it remains unaffected by external factors! (heat, pressure, etc. will not change the rate of radioactive decay!)
