How Can Radiometric Dating Yield Reliable Values for the Ages

question 57

Multiple Choice

How can radiometric dating yield reliable values for the ages of minerals, rocks and some fossils?

• A) One only needs to analyse for the parent isotope.
• B) The decay constants are fixed and well measured for isotopic decay.
• C) There are absolute fossil ages to compare to and test the radiometric clocks.
• D) The physical conditions that control decay, like temperature and pressure, are always well known.

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Basic Motivation

The fundamental drives and psychological needs that prompt an individual to take action or behave in certain ways.

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Actualizing one's full abilities and potential, felt as a compelling need or motivation inherent in all people.

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An innate, typically fixed pattern of behavior in animals in response to certain stimuli.

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Psychological strategies brought into play by individuals, unconsciously, to protect themselves from anxiety or to provide a refuge from a situation with which they cannot currently cope.