Explain the age of fossils based on their layering and the amount of radioactive elements and energy they give off. definitions: evolution,

Radioactive Decay

Many rocks and organisms contain radioactive isotopes, such as U-235 and C-14. These radioactive isotopes are unstable, decaying over time at a predictable rate. As the isotopes decay, they give off particles from their nucleus and become a different isotope. The parent isotope is the original unstable isotope, and daughter isotopes are the stable product of the decay. Half-life is the amount of time it takes for half of the parent isotopes to decay. The decay occurs on a logarithmic scale. For example, the half-life of C-14 is 5,730 years. In the first 5,730 years, the organism will lose half of its C-14 isotopes. In another 5,730 years, the organism will lose another half of the remaining C-14 isotopes. This process continues over time, with the organism losing half of the remaining C-14 isotopes each 5,730 years.

Radioactive dating is used to date materials such as rocks or carbon, in which trace radioactive impurities were selectively incoporated when they were formed. and the there are 28 anturally occuring chemical elements that are radioactive. radioactive elements gives off gamma ray energy