carbon 14
noun
: a heavy radioactive isotope of carbon of mass number 14 used especially in tracer studies and in dating old materials (such as archaeological and geologic specimens)
Examples of carbon 14 in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Eventually, artificial intelligence could supplant carbon 14 as a method of dating manuscripts, Popović suggested.
—
Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
In 2008, a Danish physicist, Jan Heinemeier, devised a way to test lens crystallines found in the eye for carbon 14, and thereby establish, very roughly, the owner’s age.
—Katherine Rundell, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
Layers in the core were dated by analyzing the carbon 14 content of shells left by microscopic organisms called foraminafera.
—Douglas Fox, Scientific American, 1 July 2012
After death the radioactive carbon 14 atoms begin to decay, changing into stable atoms of nitrogen.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
But some is made up of the unstable, radioactive form carbon 14.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Skeptics questioned the dating method used in the 2021 study, which measured the levels of radioactive carbon 14 in seeds of the freshwater plant Ruppia cirrhosa—also known as spiral ditchgrass—in layers of sediment above and below the footprints.
—Tom Metcalfe, Scientific American, 5 Oct. 2023
Miyake’s efforts paid off, however, when the data revealed an anomalously large increase in the concentration of carbon 14 precisely in the year C.E. 775.
—Katherine Kornei, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2023
Her goal was to measure the amount of carbon 14—a radioactive isotope of carbon commonly used to date archaeological artifacts.
—Katherine Kornei, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2023
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Jacopo Prisco, CNN Money, 7 June 2025
In 2008, a Danish physicist, Jan Heinemeier, devised a way to test lens crystallines found in the eye for carbon 14, and thereby establish, very roughly, the owner’s age.
—Katherine Rundell, The New Yorker, 29 July 2024
Layers in the core were dated by analyzing the carbon 14 content of shells left by microscopic organisms called foraminafera.
—Douglas Fox, Scientific American, 1 July 2012
After death the radioactive carbon 14 atoms begin to decay, changing into stable atoms of nitrogen.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
But some is made up of the unstable, radioactive form carbon 14.
—James Shreeve, Discover Magazine, 11 Nov. 2019
Skeptics questioned the dating method used in the 2021 study, which measured the levels of radioactive carbon 14 in seeds of the freshwater plant Ruppia cirrhosa—also known as spiral ditchgrass—in layers of sediment above and below the footprints.
—Tom Metcalfe, Scientific American, 5 Oct. 2023
Miyake’s efforts paid off, however, when the data revealed an anomalously large increase in the concentration of carbon 14 precisely in the year C.E. 775.
—Katherine Kornei, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2023
Her goal was to measure the amount of carbon 14—a radioactive isotope of carbon commonly used to date archaeological artifacts.
—Katherine Kornei, Scientific American, 6 Mar. 2023
Cite this Entry
“Carbon 14.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/carbon%2014. Accessed 8 Jul. 2025.
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carbon 14
noun
: a heavy radioactive isotope of carbon of mass number 14 used especially in tracer studies and in dating archaeological and geological materials
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