The basic logic behind radiometric dating is that if you compare the presence of a radioactive isotope within a sample to its known abundance on Earth, and its known half-life (its rate of decay), you can calculate the age of the sample.

How do you find the radiometric date?

Thermal ionization mass spectrometer used in radiometric dating. To determine the ages in years of Earth materials and the timing of geologic events such as exhumation and subduction, geologists utilize the process of radiometric decay.

How do we use radiometric dating?

Geologists use radiometric dating to estimate how long ago rocks formed, and to infer the ages of fossils contained within those rocks. The universe is full of naturally occurring radioactive elements. Radioactive atoms are inherently unstable; over time, radioactive parent atoms decay into stable daughter atoms.

What is the key to radiometric dating?

Accurate radiometric dating generally requires that the parent has a long enough half-life that it will be present in significant amounts at the time of measurement (except as described below under Dating with short-lived extinct radionuclides), the half-life of the parent is accurately known, and enough of the