Ever wonder how we know a mummy is thousands of years old? Let's become history detectives and uncover the secrets of Carbon Dating!
Imagine everything alive—plants, animals, and even you!—has a special, invisible ingredient called Carbon-14. Think of it like a fully charged battery.
As long as something is alive, its Carbon-14 "battery" stays at 100%. When a person in ancient Egypt was alive, their Carbon-14 was full!
When scientists find a mummy, they need a clue. They take a tiny, tiny sample—maybe from the linen wrappings or a speck of bone. It's so small, it doesn't harm the mummy at all!
This tiny piece holds the secret to the mummy's age!
Here's the magic part! After something dies, its Carbon-14 starts to slowly disappear. It disappears at a very steady speed, like a clock ticking down.
This is called "Half-Life". It takes about 5,730 years for HALF of the Carbon-14 to disappear.
So, if scientists measure the sample and find it only has 50% of its Carbon-14 left, they know the mummy is about 5,730 years old! If it has 25% left, it's twice that age!
Slide the bar to change how much Carbon-14 is left in a sample. See how old the mummy would be!
~5,730 years old
(That's 1 half-life!)