Now, Should We Assume . . . ?

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Radiometric dating is not proof of long ages. Here’s what I mean:

Radiometric dating measures the decay of one element, the parent, into a new element, the daughter. The rate of this decay, and the number of daughter atoms found in the rocks, is used to come up with a date for the rocks.

Now, there’s three big, unprovable assumptions behind this. Let’s look at the first one . . . that we can know the conditions when the rock was formed. But, in most cases, no one was there to observe the rock forming. Scientists just assume they can know the original number of parent atoms based on the current number of parent and daughter atoms. But that’s an unprovable assumption!

Dig Deeper

• Carbon-14 Dating
• Radiometric Dating: Problems with the Assumptions