radiocarbon dating. noun. a technique for determining the age of organic materials, such as wood, based on their content of the radioisotope 14 C acquired from the atmosphere when they formed part of a living plant. The 14 C decays to the nitrogen isotope 14 N with a half-life of 5730 years.

Whats the meaning of radiocarbon dating?

Carbon-14 dating, also called radiocarbon dating, method of age determination that depends upon the decay to nitrogen of radiocarbon (carbon-14). Because carbon-14 decays at this constant rate, an estimate of the date at which an organism died can be made by measuring the amount of its residual radiocarbon.