how is absolute dating used to find the ages of fossils? a. it involves calculating the amount of a…

how is absolute dating used to find the ages of fossils? a. it involves calculating the amount of a radioactive isotope in a sample and comparing it with the amount of a stable isotope. b. it involves using the principle of superposition to find the ages of fossils found in earths rock layers. c. it involves using index fossils and their locations in rock to estimate the ages of other fossils. d. it involves comparing the amount of uranium - 235 in a fossil with the amount of carbon - 14 in the fossil.

how is absolute dating used to find the ages of fossils? a. it involves calculating the amount of a radioactive isotope in a sample and comparing it with the amount of a stable isotope. b. it involves using the principle of superposition to find the ages of fossils found in earths rock layers. c. it involves using index fossils and their locations in rock to estimate the ages of other fossils. d. it involves comparing the amount of uranium - 235 in a fossil with the amount of carbon - 14 in the fossil.

Answer

Brief Explanations:

Absolute dating often uses radiometric dating. This involves calculating the amount of a radioactive isotope in a sample and comparing it to the amount of a stable isotope formed from its decay to determine the age of the sample, like a fossil. The principle of superposition (Option B) is relative - dating. Using index fossils (Option C) is also relative - dating. Comparing uranium - 235 and carbon - 14 (Option D) is not how absolute dating works as they have different half - lives and are used for different time scales and types of materials.

Answer:

A. It involves calculating the amount of a radioactive isotope in a sample and comparing it with the amount of a stable isotope.