Carbon Radioactive

Radioactive carbon is the common name for a group of radioactive isotopes of carbon with mass numbers ranging from 9 to 15 and half-lives ranging from 0.46 seconds to 5730 years. Certain carbon isotopes are used in biomedical research.

The best known and most important of the radioactive isotopes of carbon is carbon-14. It is formed in the upper atmosphere by the interaction of cosmic rays with nitrogen atoms and has a half-life of 5730 years. Constantly being formed, carbon-14 is part of carbon dioxide, and then, through photosynthesis, into the composition of all living organisms. After the death of the organism, the replenishment of carbon-14 stops and its decay begins. By measuring the residual content of an isotope in organic materials, it is possible to determine the lifespan of a biological object, which is used in radiocarbon dating to date archaeological and paleontological finds.

Other radioactive carbon isotopes, such as carbon-11 and carbon-13, find use in diagnostic medicine and scientific research due to their short half-lives and ability to be administered into the body.

Carbon radioactive isotope is the general name for a group of radionuclides containing one or more nucleons of carbon (with a mass number from 12 to 24) and having a half-life of more than 0.46 seconds. Each of the listed isotopes is already used in scientific