Carbon dating disproves evolution
C-14 is unstable (radioactive), with a half-life of 5,730 years.
The C-14 atoms that cosmic rays create combine with oxygen to form carbon dioxide, which plants absorb and incorporate by photosynthesis.
Libby chose to ignore this discrepancy (nonequilibrium state), attributing it to experimental error.
However, the discrepancy has turned out to be very real. The Specific Production Rate (SPR) of C-14 is known to be 18.8 atoms per gram of total carbon per minute.
If the C-14 to C-12 ratio in the atmosphere was higher in the past, this method will give dates that are too young.
When they collide with an atom in the atmosphere, they can create a secondary cosmic ray in the form of an energetic neutron.
When the energetic neutron collides with nitrogen, a nitrogen-14 (seven protons, seven neutrons) atom turns into a C-14 atom (six protons, eight neutrons) and a hydrogen atom (one proton, zero neutrons).
If we know the starting ratio in the live organism (assumed to be roughly the same as in living organisms today), the ratio of C-14 to C-12 in a fossil sample can be used to determine its age.
Table 1 illustrates how the ratio of C-14 to C-12 decreases from 100/100 trillion to 3/100 trillion over the course of 5 half-lives or 5 × 5,730 years = 28,650 years.
