Age of Earth

T/F: Geologist use radioactive dating to find the absolute age of rocks

• True
• False

The time it takes for 50% of the nuclei in a radioactive sample to decay to its stable isotope is called ___________.

• the half life
• geologic time
• the daughter product
• the parents isotope

The radiometric dating of an igneous rock provides ____________.

• the relative age of the rock
• the age of Earth
• a date for when the rock formed
• a date for when the rock was eroded

According to the image, what fraction of the original parent isotope still exists after 4 half lives have passed?

• 1/8
• 7/8
• 1/16
• 1/32

The oldest rocks on Earth are __________.

• 3.5 billion years old
• 3.96 to 3.8 billion years old
• 1.6 to 1.8 million years old
• 1 to 2 billion years old

The buried and exposed parts of a continental shield together compose the   _______________________ , the stable core of a continent

• photon
• core
• craton
• microcontinent

What is the most popular hypothesis of the formation of the moon? 

• The moon passed very close to the earth and was caught in its gravitational pull.
• The moon formed the same time as the earth.
• The moon formed when a small planet smashed into the newly formed earth sending debris into space which formed the moon.

Scientist think the Earth is ___ years old.

• 4,500
• 45,000
• 4.5 million
• 4.5 billion

The earth and moon were formed during which of the following eons?

• Proterozoic
• Hadean
• Archean
• Phanerozoic

Some ELEMENTS can decay over time.

• True
• False