Chapter 16, Problem 7TE

To determine

The reason of cabon-14 dating being useful for dating old pieces of cloth, but not for old coins.

Answer to Problem 7TE

The reason of cabon-14 dating being useful for dating old pieces of cloth, but not for old coins is that the coins not being living organism while cloth is originally from living organism.

Explanation of Solution

Carbon dating cannot be applicable to most of the fossils, not due to the fact that they are too ancient, but due to the fact that they unusually comprise the organism's elemental carbon. Also, many fossils are polluted with carbon from the atmosphere during assembling or maintenance procedures.

The coins don't include carbon-14 because they never existed as the living organisms. The fabric originally came from a living organism, so carbon-14 dating is applicable there.

Conclusion:

Therefore, the coins never being a living organism while cloth is originally from living organism.