Radioactive Carbon Dating

QUESTION: Can we use radioactive carbon dating to determine the age of the earth?

ANSWER:

Can we use radioactive carbon dating to determine the age of the earth? The answer is no, we can't. The reason is twofold. Dr. Gerald Aardsma explains, "Radiocarbon is not used to date the age of rocks or to determine the age of the earth. Other radiometric dating methods such as potassium-argon or rubidium-strontium are used for such purposes by those who believe that the earth is billions of years old. Radiocarbon is not suitable for this purpose because it is only applicable: a) on a time scale of thousands of years and b) to remains of once-living organisms (with minor exceptions, from which rocks are excluded)."¹

Radioactive carbon dating can't be used to determine the age of the earth simply because it can't be applied to the earth. It can only be applied to earth's organisms.