A Scientists Approach to Creation (Origins)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Wednesday, January 16, 2013, 22:34 (4327 days ago) @ Balance_Maintained

I did see one other thing about radiometric dating that perhaps you could clarify. -One paper I read says that the look for the point on the graph where the parent and daughter isotopes meet and say that is where the initial formation of the rock was. But that same paper says that nature doesn't differentiate between one isotope and another of the same element in most processes(I do not necessarily agree with that, but that is for another discussion). So anyway, when I see that statement, two questions come to my mind. -A) How do we know which isotopes formed the initial material, if nature does not distinguish between them?-B) Isn't this assuming that all isotopes in a given sample were formed at the same time? If they were not, then the isotopes would be spawning daughter isotopes at different times, even if they had the same constant decay rate. -
For example:-You have a rock formed of isotope A, that breaks down to isotope B. Now, in any given sample there may be thousands or millions of each. Call these individuals A1..A2..An.., likewise for isotope B.-Let's use C14, to help ease the calculation somewhat. -If all samples of A were created at the same time, then every single sample would decay once in 5,730 years, leaving you with a 1/2 set{A}1=set{A}2 and 1/2{A}={B}1, assuming no daughter elements present. At this point, you have a rock that is anywhere between 5730-8600+ years old. Your error ellipses get bigger, not smaller, until you reach an age where no C14 is available, at which point the test is no longer usable.. -
But what happens if the time of creation for any value of A can be any value between 1-5730? You might have 10% that is 5700 years old(yo) and some that was 3000yo when the rock sample was formed, regardless of when the actual sample was formed.-How do they account for these unknowns? A dating sample from C14 can be between 1-X years old, regardless of the distribution. Simply by virtue of not knowing when the initial atom was formed. Even IF we saw that there had been several stages of decay, that does not give us an accurate date because we do not know necessarily know which isotope was there to begin with.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.