Radiometric Dating—Proof of Long Ages?

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How old are earth’s rocks? Many people answer, “millions of years old.” That’s often because of wrong thinking regarding radiometric dating.

Here’s how this works: one element, the parent, decays into a new element, the daughter. Scientists measure this decay rate and use that to determine the ages of the rocks.

It seems simple, but radiometric dating is based on three unprovable assumptions. One: that we can know the original number of parent atoms. Two: there hasn’t been any contamination. Three: the decay rate has always been constant. But we can’t know any of these are true! So, no, radiometric dating, doesn’t prove long ages.

Dig Deeper

• Radiometric Dating: Problems with the Assumptions
• RATE: Overturning Millions of Years