this ingenious technique is based is based on a remarkably simple idea. Its success depends on how accurately we can measure the rate of decay. In fresh sample, the ratio carbon-14/carbon-12 is about 1/10, so the equipment used to monitor the radioactive decay must be very sensitive. Precision is more difficult with older samples because they contain even fewer carbon-14 nuclei. Nevertheless, radiocarbon dating has become an extremely valuable tool for estimating the age of archaeological artifacts paintings, and orther objects dating back 1000 to 5000 year