What isotope is used for radiocarbon dating?

carbon-14 Every 5,730 years, the radioactivity of carbon-14 decays by half. That half-life is critical to radiocarbon dating. Since carbon-12 doesnt decay, its a good benchmark against which to measure carbon-14s inevitable demise. The less radioactivity a carbon-14 isotope emits, the older it is.

What is the practical limit of radiocarbon dating?

A practical limit for accurate dating is 26,000 years (in other words material that is younger than the Last Glacial Maximum), but you can get less accurate dates up to 43,500 years and, some facilities provide rough dates to ~60,000 years.

Is carbon 14 a radioisotope?

carbon-14, the longest-lived radioactive isotope of carbon, whose decay allows the accurate dating of archaeological artifacts. The carbon-14 nucleus has six protons and eight neutrons, for an atomic mass of 14.