How do you 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 needed for 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