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Contents of 7.8 How do we know ... how to determine half-lives and decay rates?

7.8 How do we know ... how to determine half-lives and decay rates?

• Why is it important to measure radioactive decay rates?
• Getting the absolute age of a rock depends on knowing both
• the parent:daughter isotope ratio (abundance)
• AND an accurate decay rate
• There are several radioactive ratios that are commonly used to date geologic materials. Their range of measure is as small as several thousand years, up to billions of years.