Oxidizable Carbon Ratio Dating - Process

Process

This dating method works by measuring the ratio of oxidizable carbon to organic carbon. If the sample is freshly burned there will be no oxidizable carbon because it would have all been removed by the combustion process. Over time this will change and the amount of organic carbon will decrease to be replaced by oxidizable carbon. By measuring the ratio of oxidized carbon to organic carbon (the OCR) and applying it to the following equation the age of the sample can be determined with a very low standard error.

Read more about this topic:  Oxidizable Carbon Ratio Dating

Famous quotes containing the word process:

    The toddler’s wish to please ... is a powerful aid in helping the child to develop a social awareness and, eventually, a moral conscience. The child’s love for the parent is so strong that it causes him to change his behavior: to refrain from hitting and biting, to share toys with a peer, to become toilet trained. This wish for approval is the parent’s most reliable ally in the process of socializing the child.
    Alicia F. Lieberman (20th century)

    The process of discovery is very simple. An unwearied and systematic application of known laws to nature causes the unknown to reveal themselves.
    Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)

    The process of education in the oldest profession in the world is like any other educational process, in that it requires time and effort and patience; it can only be acquired by taking one step at a time, though the steps become accelerated after the first few.
    Madeleine [Blair], U.S. prostitute and “madam.” Madeleine, ch. 4 (1919)