Half-life is the time required for half of the atoms in a radioactive substance to decay. It is a crucial concept for understanding the dating of planetary surfaces.
5 Must Know Facts For Your Next Test
Half-life helps determine the age of rocks and meteorites by measuring the decay rate of radioactive isotopes.
Different isotopes have different half-lives, ranging from fractions of a second to billions of years.
Radiometric dating uses half-life measurements to estimate the absolute ages of geological samples.
The half-life concept is key in studying the history and evolution of planetary surfaces in our solar system.
Commonly used isotopes in radiometric dating include Uranium-238 (half-life ~4.5 billion years) and Carbon-14 (half-life ~5730 years).