Decaying of carbon 14

The unstable and radioactive carbon 14 called radiocarbon is a naturally occurring isotope
of the element carbon. Radiocarbon decays slowly in a living organism and the amount
lost is continually replenished as long as the organism takes in air and food. When a living
thing dies it stops interacting with the biosphere and the carbon 14 in it remains
unaffected by the biosphere but it will naturally undergo decay.
Decay of carbon 14 takes thousands of years. As the carbon – 14 decays with half life of
570 years, this makes the carbon – 14 become smaller as compared to carbon- 12.

It is this wonder of nature that forms the basis of radiocarbon dating and made this
carbon 14 analysis a powerfull tool in revealing the past.