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radiometric dating

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noun

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.

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RELATED WORDS

dating, thermoluminescence

Nearby words

  1. radiolysis,
  2. radioman,
  3. radiometeorograph,
  4. radiometer,
  5. radiometric,
  6. radiomicrometer,
  7. radiomimetic,
  8. radionecrosis,
  9. radioneuritis,
  10. radionics

Origin of radiometric dating

First recorded in 1965–70
Also called radioactive dating.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for radiometric dating

radiometric dating

noun

any method of dating material based on the decay of its constituent radioactive atoms, such as potassium-argon dating or rubidium-strontium datingAlso called: radioactive dating
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Science definitions for radiometric dating

radiometric dating

[rā′dē-ō-mĕt′rĭk]

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.
The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2011. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.