Use this radiocarbon dating calculator
This radiocarbon dating calculator is designed for students and routine checking. Choose remaining carbon-14 percentage or sample-to-modern activity ratio, then select a physical-half-life estimate or the Libby conventional BP convention. The workspace keeps the selected method, known values, result, formula, and substituted arithmetic together so you can see what produced the answer instead of receiving an unexplained number. Change one input at a time when checking homework, and confirm that the direction of change agrees with the stated relationship.
The result uses the model and assumptions stated on this page together with the values shown in the active form. It does not infer values, identities, or conditions that the active method does not ask for. If your course, data sheet, or laboratory method specifies a different reference state or sign convention, use that source consistently before comparing answers.
Radiocarbon dating formula and input guide
The calculation uses t=−(t½/ln2)ln(F). Remaining fraction and activity ratio are dimensionless. The physical option reports elapsed years; conventional Libby ages use years BP, where present is AD 1950. Inputs that must be positive, integral, dimensionless, or above absolute zero are checked before a result is shown. A hidden default is never used for a selected unknown, and changing a method or known value invalidates the previous result until you calculate again.
Read each visible field label as part of the active formula. A label distinguishes quantities that may share a symbol or unit but use a different basis. Keep every input on the basis named by the selected method, and use the visible substitution steps as a unit audit before accepting the result.
Work through a radiocarbon dating example
A sample with 25% remaining is two half-lives old: 11,460 years with the 5,730-year physical half-life, or 11,136 conventional years BP with the 5,568-year Libby convention. The page displays the intermediate scale or correction before the final answer, which makes sign, exponent, and unit mistakes easier to spot. Recalculate the example independently and compare the displayed substitution rather than matching only the last rounded digits.
A useful reverse check substitutes the reported answer back into the original relationship. The reconstructed known quantity should agree at the displayed precision. If it does not, inspect the active fields, unit prefixes, selected method, and stated model limits before recalculating.
Interpret the radiocarbon dating result
The numerical answer describes only the quantity named in the result card under the selected method and its stated assumptions. Do not treat one calculated quantity as proof of a different property, mechanism, or experimental outcome. Preserve the sign and unit when copying the result because removing either can reverse or erase its physical meaning.
Report significant figures that match the least precise input or source constant required by your work. Additional digits are shown when they are needed to keep the visible equation internally consistent, not to claim laboratory accuracy. For consequential research, manufacturing, medical, environmental, or safety decisions, use validated measurements and a method approved for that application.
Model limits, sources, and private use
Both results are uncalibrated and limited to 0–60,000 years, matching the approximate AMS application range described by IAEA. Calendar calibration, reservoir effects, contamination, fractionation, uncertainty, reference normalization, and archaeological context remain outside the calculation. The principal reference basis is NIST radiocarbon convention history, IAEA AMS guidance, and named physical and Libby half-life values. When the page uses a named correlation or constant, it keeps that source within the range stated here; unsupported inputs are rejected instead of silently extrapolated or completed with invented values. A classroom approximation can be useful without being a universal property prediction.
The values are calculated in the current browser tab and are not uploaded as part of the calculation. No account is required. Copying is a deliberate action after the answer and steps are visible, while Reset restores the example and Clear removes the current result. Refreshing or leaving the page clears the working state, so save only the information you need for later study.