I was told that carbon dating (also called carbon 14 or radio carbon dating) can prove the world is millions of years old. What is it, and how accurate is it?
How Carbon Dating works
Carbon dating is one method scientists use to measure the ages of objects which were alive at some time in the past.
In our atmosphere there are particles of carbon, when rays from the sun hit them it turns a few of them into carbon 14 (a radioactive carbon).
Of all the carbon in the world only a very small amount is radioactive.
Plants are designed to absorb carbon dioxide (what you and I breathe out -->) and release oxygen (what you and I breathe in <--). During this process they absorb carbon 14 as well as regular carbon.
Once the plant has the carbon 14 in it, you and I eat the plant and now we have carbon 14 in us too! (Don't worry there is so little it won't hurt you at all)
