Dating, in scientific terms, has contributed significantly to our knowledge of how things are. But how do scientists determine the exact age and date of their discoveries?
Scientists and researchers' ability to precisely identify the age of an object and from what era it came from helps us retell the stories of the past. However, dating isn't a chance of luck or out of whim decision. It takes research and careful analysis to date an object accurately.
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Why is Dating Important in Science?
Upon discovery, scientists give pottery, human settlements, fossils, human bones, and more discoveries precise dates.
These dates are vital because not only do they help us paint the bigger picture, but they also allow us to fit together the pieces of our planet and past societies. Without dating methods, we will never know how the first societies thrive, nor will we have an accurate depiction of evolution.
Simply put, dating is as vital as the discoveries themselves.
Types of Dating in Science Discoveries
There are various types of dating when it comes to scientific discoveries. Fossils, human bones, and objects have multiple forms of dating. However, there are two primary forms of dating.
Relative Dating
Whether its fossils, rocks, or bones relative dating is used throughout the scientific community. Relative dating techniques put rocks, fossils, and other objects in sequential order of formation.
Scientists judge and objects date based on its surrounding items and other discoveries with similar attributes. Typically this technique is used as soon as a discovery is made.
According to Science Learn Organization, relative dating is used to sort geological events using the rocks they leave behind to form a sequence. Geologists use stratigraphy to read the order based on the strata rock layers.
Absolute Dating
On the other hand, absolute dating Is a technique that helps scientists determine the exact age of fossils and rocks through radiometric dating. According to UC Berkeley, this form of dating is based on the decay of radioactive atoms that naturally occur in the universe.
The atoms in chemical elements and compounds form isotopes. When the isotopes break down, they exhibit radioactive decay. Scientists measure the ratio of the original isotope to the newly formed isotopes that help them determine the age of an object.
Other Techniques of Dating
Carbon Dating
In an article by the BBC UK, carbon dating is one way to know the age of an object biologically.
Cosmic rays that radiate from space enter the planet's atmosphere every day. These cosmic rays create carbon-14 that does not decay even when the biological entity dies off. It leaves a faint radioactive material: radiocarbon.
Dendrochronology
Scientists look at the rings in wood from tree samples to determine the tree's exact age. More rings are created on a tree as it gets older, which shows the natural pattern of life.
There are many ways scientists date their discoveries. Some techniques are better used depending on the object discovered. Nevertheless, dating is an integral part of the discovery that lets us know how things coexisted in the past.
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