Everything You Need to Know About Isotopes

[@StarTalk]

What did you learn about Isotopes?

[@Tarou9000]

Everything Neil said was new knowledge acquired

[@vdis]

I thought I remembered from school that all elements are isotopes. Meh, the things that happen when you get old😢

[@Trumpstinks]

I always wondered why the atoms degrade at a measurable pace. Why wouldn't it all happen at once or all happen quickly then slowly or not happen at all and then happen?

[@Tarou9000]

@@Trumpstinks probability, it's more likely for it to degrade smoothly than for every atom to be more in sync with each other

[@mythbuster581]

I finely understood my lessons after 40 years. Great day!

[@davetoms1]

Out of the hundreds of carbon dating explanations I've heard, this is the _first time_ anyone has answered a question I've always had: How do we date something if all Carbon-14 is continually decaying everywhere? And Neil's answer is simple in its two parts: 1) The environment continually makes more such that the ratio is relatively stable by replenishing the decayed atoms, and 2) Living things replenish their internal stock of carbon up until, obviously, they die. Thank you, Neil.

[@felipaorfr]

Yes, the chain is very interesting. Nitrogen 14 in the atmosphere receives a neutron from cosmic rays wich kicks off a proton from the nucleus and turns it into Carbon 14. Plants absorb by photosynthesis, everyone eats plants or animals that eat plants, so everyone ends up with Carbon 14. Things die, and for thousands of years we can date them by measuring the Carbon 14 left. Some people are pretty damn smart.

[@andrewdenzov3303]

If it wasn’t obvious I have bad news…

[@7hekaka]

@@andrewdenzov3303😂😂 you’re not good

[@andrewdenzov3303]

Never tried to be good. And if one interested enough in c14 dating to get some understanding on subject it’s pity that he needs pseudo humor to understand subject

[@OlegSidorenko1974]

​@@andrewdenzov3303is this you, Wednesday? Oops, pseudo humour I reckon...

[@joseluisrevelo]

If I had had teachers this good I wouldn’t be here at my age finally learning something so basic. Thank you Neil!

[@jaegerschtulmann]

We need a better system where teaching jobs are the highest paid profession

[@bsadewitz]

My teachers were pretty good. The problem was me. Although, wait, you never learned what an isotope is in school?

[@danielsantaella4304]

But you have them now

[@nerdative]

You should keep doing these types of episodes, fun, existing, informative. I wish my chemistry teacher was like you

[@KJF-ny]

Agreed. I'm sitting here at 40 going, "Aha!" Wish I was able to wrap my head around it back in high school.

[@YTsuuuucks]

Agreed. However I’m not sure I would’ve been ready for that in HS. My chemistry teacher hated me, and I don’t think I can blame him much now … was too busy weighing myself on the gram scales and using bunsen burners as flamethrowers 😂

[@johnkhd1512]

One of the questions from my chemistry test was literally to date a rock from a volcano

[@Logan-lb2gl]

Whoever's been editing your videos lately has been killing it. 👏🏻 Thanks for another great video, Neil and Chuck!

[@shirleenrodriguez3355]

I know I may not be smarter. But I always feel smarter after watching these videos. This is a good one.

[@debranelson1987]

Yes, I know what you mean about feeling more intelligent after watching Neil's videos and it's a good feeling.

[@antoniosalgado5885]

@@debranelson1987dude frrr it fills me with so much happiness to learn from people who genuinely are excited to talk about this stuff

[@FezMooseLive]

Because you are learning 😂 dont doubt yourself. Im 22, failed highschool, and I'm learning more here then from school. Mostly because Neil and Chuck make learning way more fun. I feel like I would have loved learning if I had one of them as teachers.

[@Blackrhyme7]

That is why I love this show, such simple explanation how it actually works the whole carbon dating.

[@orestis016]

A group is visiting a natural history museum. When their guide reaches at some very interesting dinosaur fossil, he says "This is a 180million and 12 years old fossil". Someone from the audience asks "Hey, how do you know it's 180million AND TWELVE???" "Well, I was told it was 180 million years old when I first came here, and I came 12 years ago"

[@ValgardDerithos]

Just before the end of the year, I was teaching this at class: nuclear desintegration and reactions, and Carbon-14 dating is a great source of exercises. As usual, you've explained it gorgeously.

[@araiaf]

Thanks!

[@susanjimenez5500]

Love this! I had forgotten how this worked, and occasionally it would come up, and I would think to myself that I had to look up how this worked bc I didn't remember. Thanks for the explanation! 😊

[@abstract5249]

Neil has a knack for explaining topics we've learned somewhere before and think about vaguely, but don't really understand/have forgotten. Then he sprinkles in some new facts and creates a connection we hadn't previously made. That's what I love about Startalk. You're always learning and thinking about things in new ways.

[@garydunken7934]

What a great explanation of isotopes of elements. Thank you.

[@dwightbehm2886]

I am no chemist. But an old friend Iv known for 23 years Gave me an old chemistry book his daughter studied from when she was young in high school. I left it in my basement on a shelf for roughly 10 years. Then one day during a bout of unemployment with nothing to do in boredom I came across it and began to read it some of it is hard and boring I'm no Mathematician but I read all the articles of interest. I am a mechanic retired now but back when I learned electronics and how every thing worked. But when I read that chemistry book I learned alot more about electricity it was amazing what I learned from that book. The how's and why. Simply amazing.

[@cabji]

Ive been trying to learn about chemistry online and this was a great supplement about isotopes. In orher videos they just say the words and gloss over what they mean. It helps a lot to have a further explanation about specific things like this.

[@jaybee8581]

Great vid. I prefer these short explainers to the comedic/interrupting the guest shows. Thanks for having these available StarTalk.

[@Roffgar]

Freaking love you guys. Always excited to learn something new, and am never disappointed 😊

[@judyparker8459]

Love the visuals! Very helpful, I finally learned how carbon-14 works. Well done, everybody.😊 I'm re-reading Oliver Sacks' book "Uncle Tungsten" and am in the chapter of his love, as a young boy, for the elements, that never ceased his whole life. It was hard to imagine being so passionate about these but your video here helped me to see how that's possible. Thanks!

[@azilbean]

Putting that on my reading list, thanks!!

[@englewoodmusic]

I will just start carbon dating instead of asking for IDs

[@ludachris7920]

Lolol

[@ProfShibe]

real

[@ChristinaGuzik]

Naw, you can't carbon date it if it's living. Don't you watch Young Sheldon?

[@englewoodmusic]

@@ChristinaGuzik teeth

[@citypavement]

7:48 please watch the whole thing. lol

[@lismararnal9628]

I admire you so much Neil! Happy New Year for you and Chuck 🎉🎉🎉

[@BIGTTSNORLAX]

great editing! I think this really helps the explainer videos get some extra value

[@dr.x4050]

This video is extremely helpful, clear, and easy to understand.

[@komeseetv5843]

Thanks Doc Tyson and Chuck Nice for this explainer. The visuals make it a lot more fun. I felt like I was back in science class.

[@danm3570]

this was great, i vaguely understood how carbon dating worked but never had it explained properly, thanks. Isotopes and compounds are fascinating 😁

[@Zoditron]

I'm glad I watched this video because the isotope stuff I learned back in highschool was beginning to fade from my memory.

[@NinjaOrchids]

Finally an explanation that a dyslexic could comprehend straight away! Thank you!! Super fun to listen to and now I am eager to try and get more understanding on a topic that used to give me anxiety 👍🏼

[@Adriaan1987]

some say Einstein was dyslapstic

[@Golgot100]

Loved the pacing on the animations and the fun you brought to the topic. Great vid :)

[@Cioper]

It's so much better when you add pictures and animations to your videos.

[@EP-ni6my]

So you explained about Carbon-14 and the decay. But if you age something by home much decayed, how did you know how much was there to start?

[@vykintasmorkvenas6839]

That's what have always boggling my mind. Because as Neil said the STARTING level has always been changing.

[@timharig]

The amount doesn't matter. It's the ratio of the carbon isotopes that matters. Carbon dating works because C14 is created at a reliable rate in the ionosphere compared to its natural decay. So before we started testing nuclear bombs 1945, the ratio of C14:C12 in carbon dioxide was predictable. Since plants get their carbon from the atmosphere , their C12:C14 ratio matches the atmospheric ratio so long as they are living and breathing. When the die, they stop breathing and no longer exchange atoms with the environment. Then the C14 decays away at a predictable rate reducing its ratio to the C12 that does not decay. We can measure that ratio, and use some mathematics to determine how long the C14 must hame been decaying to reach that ratio and infer when the plant died.

[@vykintasmorkvenas6839]

@@timharig how do we know the rate has always been the same? I believe Neil himself said it's changing.

[@TonkarzOfSolSystem]

Something he didn’t go into is that the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14 is the same in every living thing at any given time. Because of the way nature produces carbon 14 in the upper atmosphere, and the effectively identical way carbon 12 and carbon 14 are absorbed into the biosphere. So the ratio of the two at any given time in a living thing is the same as the overall ratio of carbon 12 and carbon 14 on earth in general. So when scientists do radiocarbon dating they’re concerned with the ratio of carbon 12 to carbon 14. Now, as Neil alluded to it’s not quite as simple as “5% of the carbon is carbon 14? must 850 years old” (these numbers are for illustrative purposes only). Why? Because the proportion of carbon 12 to carbon 14 in the environment in general may change over time. Like Neil said, nuclear testing had a significant effect, but it also changes over time for other reasons. Which was proven in the 1960s via tree ring data. Armed with this data scientists constructed a calibration curve to convert the sample measurements into an actual date. The modern radiocarbon calibration curve includes data from coral, plant macrofossils, rocks and, according to wikipedia, “foraminifera”.

[@timharig]

@@vykintasmorkvenas6839 This is a KZbin comment section. It is a simplified explanation. A detailed explanation of of all the accounting done to estimate accuracies based on things like atmospheric variation, contamination, etc. could literally require a book and expert knowledge to understand. It is far beyond the scope of a KZbin comment. The simplest explanation that I can give you is that carbon dating doesn't happen an an isolated case. It is compared against other samples from similar areas, similar environments, similar time frames, and often correlated with other dating techniques. The more similar and the more verified samples available to compare against, the more accurate and more narrow a samples estimated date is likely to be. When you get a sample dated, you do not get back a specific date. You receive a confidence interval of the statistically likely dates. Depending how many similar samples were available to help remove confounding variables, the times span could be quite narrow or quite wide.

[@Jacobjef]

A very good explainer video. This is how it should be done!! Shoutout to the ones who made the graphics alongside the explainer !!

[@Bowie_E]

Somehow, the editing has become even better than before. Excellent stuff 😂 🤗 🥰

[@JohnnySpectron]

Really enjoying watching your vids at work. Good stuff!! Always learning 🌟

[@Ericwvb2]

This is a really well presented, entertaining and informative short lecture on isotopes. Fun related fact: as Dr. Tyson alluded to, the man made nuclear tests added so much Carbon-14 to the environment that it changed these ratios, and the ratios went back to the natural levels when atomic testing stopped. Scientists can actually look for nuclear bomb era testing levels of C-14 in tissue and make all sorts of interesting conclusions as there is sort of a nuclear fingerprint. One conclusion reached by examining nuclear bomb C-14 levels in Greenland sharks was that they have extremely long lifespans - 390 years or even longer. By looking at the amount of nuclear bomb era C-14 levels in the molars of human skeletons we can estimate the age of the person when they died to within 1 or 2 years. So it's possible to make conclusions not just how long ago something died, but how old it was when it did.

[@Yungbeck]

These are so good! Some people look at you sideways for even knowing about isotopes smh. Also, your editor is goated.

[@johntumpkin3924]

This is a very clear and helpful explanation of some complex phenomena, allowing only interpretations and perspectives to conflict. 👍👍

[@isatousarr7044]

Isotopes play a crucial role in various scientific fields, from geology to biology, by providing insights into the processes and history of the natural world. Different isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons, which can lead to variations in physical and chemical properties. These variations are invaluable for understanding everything from the age of rocks (through radiometric dating) to tracing the pathways of biochemical processes in organisms. Isotopes offer a window into the past and present, revealing hidden details about environmental changes, biological pathways, and even the evolution of life on Earth. How have isotopic analyses advanced our understanding of Earth's geological history and the evolution of life? Can isotopic variations in biological systems provide insights into the adaptability and resilience of organisms in changing environments?

[@movingtheworld3862]

I can watch this kind of video all day long! Thank you Neil 🧠👏🏼

[@EmpyreanLightASMR]

Did you guys just change your logo and image this morning? It looks FANTASTIC. I've secretly been hoping for a new logo for a while now 😂

[@IamRobinD]

I wish my science teachers were more like you Neil. You make it fun to learn science. From grade 7-12, I disliked science class because my teachers were boring. I'm 29 and have learned so much from you.

[@fabianmckenna8197]

Agreed, it's great when teachers make stuff interesting....... Could never get to grips with history at school with all these important dates getting crammed down your throat but when I began working back shift and nightshift, I started watching historical TV programs and wow, I understood it all!

[@lalchhanhima_DarkHeart]

Neil is one of the best for me... His explanation is clear and concise. Easy to understand. This is best carbon dating chapter of my life 🤣

[@ECXProjectbyJoey]

As someone who create video, that mini dolly zoom when Neil reveals carbon isotopes delights my soul

[@dereksawle]

Great explanation - loved it!

[@TheGiggleMasterP]

When one carbon atom really likes another carbon atom they start dating... 😅

[@archanam3222]

Thank you for took me to my school days. A perfect show for who love science and for those who hates.

[@willstiegler8111]

Awesome lesson about our periodic table of elements 😂!!! Love ya Neil, please keep em commin cause I have a huge thirst for knowledge 😉 😜

[@samkelly99]

Thanks guys ! This was super helpful. Currently talking about this in my Anthropology class and was wondering what the heck it is LOL fascinating

[@Lambbeast99]

Chucks unstable reference had me rolling😅

[@Scruples1]

Chuck is the isotope of Neil

[@kxqe]

Thank you for using a thumbnail on this video that accurately represents its content.

[@shuboc8326]

Superb, I havn't studied science as a subject in my graduation and post studies. but lemme tell you, I was always interested, (can't get it coz' am poor at maths.) THIS IS THE BEST VIDEP TO TEACH ME THE CONCEPT OF ANY ONE PART OF SCIENCE - in this case Carbon Dating. Look forward to get more such videos. Great Work

[@susanlilley-rizos9906]

That was such a good lesson! I never really understood carbon 14 dating till now, thank you!

[@KllswtchOvrDrv]

I'm digging the background music

[@Adriaan1987]

Ave Maria; if you didnt already know...🙃

[@coletteHawk]

Thank you for that clear and succinct explanation.

[@MBY1952]

ניל דגריי כל מה שהינך מלמד אפילו שהם חזרה על הנלמד מדהים בפשטות ההסבר. מרצה מעולה והומניסט . תודה רבה .

[@josephstandish599]

-What did the chemist say when he found two new isotopes of helium? HeHe -Are there any good jokes about sodium? Na

[@Tommyoda]

a couple exist about Uranium 😁

[@J.Tronix]

Da Tyson pulling in clutch with this refresher so I can listen to that JRE podcast with the mammoth bones

[@desireer6915]

Thank you so much! ❤ Super helpful and interesting!

[@Nefville]

I'd love to see an explainer on precious metals; rarity, what makes them desirable, useful in scientific applications, industrial ones, emissions even. I know Neil has an 18kt gold Moonwatch, fitting for a cosmologist, he knows a thing or two about them. I find them fascinating from a materials/ elemental point of view. I'm not a $5, its a cup of coffee, Patreon member but I thought I'd ask.

[@antoniosalgado5885]

Oh dude NileRed has some cool videos on how metals and other weird stuff works in a scientific setting I 100% but he doesn’t do the nuanced explanations like on startalk

[@SiqueScarface]

Maybe it helps to point out that C14 is generated from the N14 in the air, and thus is converted into sugar by green plants via photosynthesis. The C14 we humans ingest is already in the process of decaying, and continues to decay in our body, so the age we determine from C14 dating is not exactly our age, but the age of the leaf or fruit of the plant we ate (or the animal ate which meat we eat), and whose organic matter our body converts into its own organic matter. Thus the presence of cosmic rays and atmospheric nitrogen is what in the end causes C14 to be present in organic matter and not in fossil matter, because the fossil carbon was not exposed to atmospheric nitrogen converted into radioactive carbon for a very long time.

[@rainsfall4119]

2:36 i always love these sudden genius comedy moments in startalk 😂 every time i watch these two my anxiety disagrees

[@bobygunarso8833]

Thank you very much for the great explanation, Neil! You are the best! 😊

[@aaronbailey23]

I’m a nuclear medicine technologist. Always cool when Dr. Tyson visits my neck of the woods.

[@alexanderstolzenburg1232]

Please, please: No background "music" while talking

[@sanZeeet]

I know for non native speaker music disturb to get it understand, you should on subtitle ,,,But it makes the things more dramatic,,helps as lot of people focus more.

[@sanZeeet]

I know for non native speaker music disturb to get it understand, you should on subtitle ,,,But it makes the things more dramatic,,helps as lot of people focus more.

[@GooogleGoglee]

I agree better without music. No matter the mother-tongue

[@mahinahmed2316]

Its fine as long as its non intrusive

[@jckdnls9292]

Fine with me, depends on the music

[@jeffhidalgo8457]

Great talk! Thanks Professor! Happy New Year!!!

[@insanusmaximus2857]

I can never remember how that stuff works! I'm definitely saving this video.

[@K_Isla]

Learning more physics and chemistry from you than I did in high school 😢

[@walterhernandez9867]

Carbon dating is a hotline where coal, diamonds and graphite gather to have a good time.

[@semanavidi8694]

Great source of science, thanks Dr. Tyson and the other gentleman.

[@TerryRebel]

I f**king love these videos. Thank you for teaching me❤ You’re never too old to learn.

[@monarch6t9]

💀 this guy explained it so easily i have never felt this easy to comprehend anything

[@davidgatzen1543]

When Mendeleev made his periodic table in 1869, he did not know what a proton was, because the proton was not discovered until 1917. Mendeleev made his periodic chart, based on the chemical properties and other physical properties of the elements, and was clever enough to predict some of the missing elements. The chemical properties of an element depends on the number of protons in the elements core, so in away, Mendeleev was indirectly basing his periodic chart on the number of protons each element has per atom.

[@canadianperson4830]

Question please... It's my understanding that Carbon14 atoms are formed by the interaction of cosmic rays to form the isotope. If the rate of cosmic ray saturation is based on the magnetic shield of Earth which fluctuates in intensity, and we havent been monitoring the magnetic shield for that long, how can we be positive about the decay rate? Also...doesnt that also hold true for other radiometric dating processes?

[@charlessukati4866]

Beautifully explained 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@MurphyTheOldMan]

if only my school teacher had such talent of teaching.... I would have become a scientist

[@The-binge_710]

GREAT CONTENT

[@priyanthapereramahahewage1004]

Nicely explained. Big Thank you

[@Shotbyadap]

Learned more in 10 minutes watching this than I did in a whole year of chemistry class

[@obetz4160]

Love the visuals it help a lot. Thank you.

[@Warlock8ZERO]

Question - So if you're trying to carbon date something that is carbon 13, how do you know when the decay started in order to calculate the time? Couldn't it have been carbon 14, but decayed so much, it's now carbon 13, but you can't tell the difference, and you would have to calculate it somewhere in-between the two decay rates? Hope that makes sense, basically how do you carbon date something, if it's impossible to tell what the original number of neutrons started at.

[@Ericwvb2]

Carbon 14 decays into Nitrogen 14. You have a base ratio of Carbon-14 to Carbon-12 (which as Dr. Tyson explained has to be adjusted due to atomic testing) for living things. Once the living thing dies and stops replacing the existing carbon with new carbon from the environment, the Carbon-14 decays away and that ratio changes.

[@timharig]

1. C14 doesn't decay into C13. It decays into N14 giving off a beta particle in the process. 2. It wouldn't matter if it did. What matters is the change in ratios of the isotopes. As long as the amount of C14 is changing relative to another at a constant rate, you could still calculator hope long it has been changing.

[@Warlock8ZERO]

@@timharig Ah okay, didn't know that thanks, I still don't get that if you came across N14, would you just assume it was C14 before and date it based on that? Not sure how you would tell the difference between currently decaying C14 and something that used to be C14, but has since changed forms from decay.

[@timharig]

@@Warlock8ZERO It is called carbon dating and not nitrogen dating for a reason. Some forms of radiometric dating do make use of the decay products (such as uranium-lead dating). Carbon-14 dating does not. What matters is the ratios (pursuant to point two above). Due to a balance in the rate of carbon-14 being made in the ionosphere and its decay, C14 accounts for 1 part per trillion of carbon atoms in the atmosphere. A live plant gets most of its carbon mass by respiration. Photosynthesis converts carbon dioxide from the atmosphere into glucose. So the ratios of carbon atoms in living plants closely match those of the atmosphere. Animals eat plants or eat other animals that have eaten plants, so their carbon ratios are also close to those found in the atmosphere. When an organism dies, it stops breathing and becomes a closed system. C12 and C13 are stable. Their mass will not change. C14 however will decay with a half life of 5730 years and no longer be replaced post mortem. So 5730 years after death, the amount of C14 will only be 0.5 parts per trillion of the total carbon atoms present in the organism. So to date an organism, a sample of the organism is ionized into plasma and accelerated to a highly accurate velocity inside of a linear accelerator. Then it is shot out through perpendicular magnetic field. By the right hand rule, the magnetic field will induce a force perpendicular to both the direction of the linear accelerators velocity and the magnetic field causing the ionized atoms to curve. Since the atoms all left the accelerator with the same velocity, the radius of their curve is determined by their mass. By placing particle detectors at the curve radii for C12, C13, and C14 it is possible to count the number of atoms of each isotope. This is called a linear accelerator mass spectrometer. We know that the number of C14 atoms started at 1 part per trillion of the carbon atoms. We have measured the current ratio of C14 to carbon atoms. We know that the number of C14 carbon atoms has been decaying with the remaining mass calculated by: r = m(1/2)^(t/5730) Where: t is the amount of time since death m is the initial ratio of C14 at 1 part per trillion r is the ratio of C14 after time t as measured in the linear accelerator mass spectrometer 5730 is the half life of C14 Solve for t: r = m(1/2)^(t/5730) (r/m) = (1/2)^(t/5730) log(r/m) = (t/5730)log(1/2) t = 5730log(r/m)/log(1/2) After that, analysis will be done to estimate the measurement error and to control for confounding variables such as contamination from other carbon sources. The end result will be a confidence interval of the most likely range of years that the organism could have died in.

[@Yovo555]

I’ve learnt something today. Cheers

[@SanoManjiro305]

Amazing explanation!

[@NaimTheRuleBreaker]

I love this man. Loud and clear❤

[@Smokabowlski]

If educators and materials were selected by the amount of engagement provided. Tyson would be the benchmark

[@AnisKouhen]

Chuck you are a real comedian not like most other comedians, you always responds with funny jokes on the spot which are really funny, that makes you an exceptional and a very bright person. thanks for all the good times you offer to viewers. Now about the elephant of the room, you are the best educator on the planet and thanks for your genuine care and passion

[@glennglenn6787]

Mate will watch all your video's you are the man thanks

[@petersage5157]

I'm so old that archaeologists want to date me. Just to be clear, you don't get C-14 by whacking two neutrons into C-12, but by throwing a neutron at N-14 and knocking out a proton. (That's not exactly what happens, but I challenge anyone to explain it better in less than 50 words.) The C-14 then decays back to N-14 by emitting an electron and an antineutrino.

[@docfish7552]

92 naturally-occurring elements? I thought Technetium was not naturally occurring (on Earth) but there’s spectral lines of it in some stars. Please correct me if I’m wrong. Really enjoy Startalk!

[@citypavement]

Let me muddy the waters. I thought the word "technology" meant man made.

[@Thrill98]

naturally occurring in universe

[@Bowie_E]

"tech" means man made 🤗

[@anothersquid]

Technetium isn't found in nature, but plutonium is. There are trace amounts of natural neptunium too. They both exist in trace amounts due to isotopes with long half-lives. Astatine is almost not found in nature as it has a short half-life (much like technetium), and only exists in tiny amounts for fleeting moments as other radioactive elements trundle down their decay paths to the abyss that is lead.

[@yourguard4]

Wikipedia says, that even 94 elements are occuring naturally. Even Tecnetium. It is just very rare.

[@alan_yong]

🎯 Key Takeaways for quick navigation: 00:00 📚 *Overview of Isotopes* - Elements in the periodic table have a specific number of protons in their nucleus. - Gaps in the periodic table led to the discovery of missing elements by determining the proton count. - Protons are held together by the strong force, facilitated by neutrons, preventing repulsion. 03:00 🧲 *The Strong Force and Neutrons* - The strong force, mediated by gluons, holds protons together in the nucleus. - Neutrons act as a glue, reducing resistive forces in the nucleus. - The stability of atoms relies on the balance between protons and neutrons. 04:54 💧 *Isotopes of Hydrogen* - Adding or subtracting neutrons from hydrogen creates isotopes (e.g., deuterium and tritium). - Heavy water, containing deuterium, has unique properties. - Tritium, with two added neutrons, is another isotope of hydrogen. 06:00 ⏰ *Carbon Isotopes and Carbon Dating* - Carbon isotopes, like carbon-12 and carbon-14, play a role in dating techniques. - Carbon-14 dating relies on the decay of unstable carbon-14 over time. - The half-life of carbon-14 allows dating of events from recent history to thousands of years ago. 07:32 🌍 *Cosmic Ray Influence and Nuclear Tests* - Cosmic rays and nuclear tests contribute to carbon-14 levels in the environment. - Living organisms maintain a balance of carbon isotopes until death. - Nuclear tests in the 1950s and 60s affected the baseline measurements of carbon isotopes. 09:08 ☀️ *Helium Isotopes and Solar Ejection* - Helium-4 is stable with two protons and two neutrons. - Removing one neutron results in helium-3, an isotope. - Helium-3, ejected by the sun, becomes embedded in the lunar surface. Made with HARPA AI

[@cryptonitor9855]

We needed this from you. Thanks

[@nicolasbouillon4318]

Carbon-14 and the link to half life is how dating archeoligy finds. Thx much I don't think I was ever toughts back in school days. Big thx and good work on educational science. Even to young old adult sush as I, it bring lot of enlightening!

[@MosMoses-h8t]

Wow😮 a lot of knowledge 😊

[@alexmiller2752]

Educational as always, Mr. Tyson. What I am more interested in, is to know how do scientists determine the half life of various decaying elements for example Carbon-14 which has about ~ 5000 years and specially Xenon-124 which has the longest half life of 18 Billion Trillion years. @StarTalk

[@timharig]

Carbon-14 is easy. If I have 1kg of C14 and I let it sit for 10yr and remeasure its weight, then I should find that more weighs only 998.8 grams. r = m×(1/2)^(t/h) Where: t is the time elapsed m is the mass at time t=0 r is the mass left after time t h is the half life Solving for h gives: r = m×(1/2)^(t/h) r/m=(1/2)^(t/h) log(r/m) = (t/h)log(1/2) h = t×log(1/2)/log(r/m) Plugging in the measured values gives: (10yr)log(1/2)/log(998.8g/1000g) = 5773 years. Of course a few extra significant figures used in measuring the mass would give better results. The researches that measured xenon-124 measured the number of decays instead. They had 3.5 tons of xenon in a tank with particle detectors. They were able to identify almost 100 xenon-124 decays based on the particles that are produced by its decay. Subtract the 100 from the beginning amount of xenon-124 atoms in the chamber and you can calculate the half life the same as you did for carbon-14.

[@bobl703]

@@timharig But wouldn't that rely on the assumption that the rate of decay is linear of the full 5730 years for C14? We can't guarantee that it's linear. Maybe it decays very slowly at first, and then speeds up steadily. Or, decays quickly at first and then slows down. How do scientists know that the rate is constant?

[@fabianmckenna8197]

​@@bobl703Discovered in 1946 so they've had 78 years to check out their figures.........

[@timharig]

@@bobl703 The equations that define exponential growth and decay are a mathematical phenomenon more than they are a physical phenomenon. They occur any time that the rate of growth/decay vary based on the current size of the population. They are some of the most fundamental equations in physics and engineering. The same general equations govern the growth of your interest bearing financial accounts, the rate of population growth, the transfer of heat through a material or between materials, the dispersion of medications through your body, the discharge of coils and capacitors, etc. etc. etc. If you cannot trust that the properties of subatomic particles are time invariant, then you cannot trust in anything since everything is built on top of them. You existence depends on them. Every technology that man has invented since the discovery of metal smelting depends on them. The chemical processes that keep your body alive depend on them. The nuclear processes that keep the sun and other main sequence stars stable depend on them.

[@bobl703]

@@fabianmckenna8197 78 years is a very small percentage of 5730 years, so that doesn’t help at all.

[@MrRevertis]

This was excellent, thank you Neil and Chuck. I'm going to seem really smart on day 1 of my intro to radiation physics course. Day 2 maybe not so much...

[@BigAl-IRL]

Interesting and useful, thank you!

[@anilgonsalves]

Brilliantly explained.

[@anwarali7796]

Nicely explained

[@tjay8433]

Chuck is the star of the show. And neils laugh is the supernova.❤🎉😅

[@timdotterweich7380]

Neil, where were you when I was in high school and needed a chemistry teacher who could elements and isotopes where I could understand them?

[@jameshedden2260]

Carbon-14: the dating app for scientists and science enthusiasts

[@owenstark2704]

Niel, I’m studying archaeology/physical anthropology at the University of British Columbia. I’m a huge fan and I’ll forgive the fact that you barely spoke about applications of radiocarbon dating. Anyways I love you Niel say it back… “I love you too” it’s not that hard Niel say it back… please:(

[@citypavement]

If it's any consolation, I love you.

[@owenstark2704]

⁠@@citypavement thx king, but u aren’t Degussy-tysussy😒

[@rowanpike]

This was extremely helpful. Thanks!!

[@khaleelkhan4556]

As always great video keep it up ❤