Faster Uranium Decay
Ecclesiastes 1:10
“Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us.”
In two previous Creation Moments, I have described how radiometric dating works, and how uranium changes into lead. We found that, for every atom of uranium that decays, eight atoms of helium are made. If a rock contained no lead when it was formed, then all the lead must have been made from uranium, and there would be 8 times as many helium atoms as lead atoms.
Mica crystals, containing uranium and lead, were examined. The amount of helium in the crystal was measured. Then the amount of helium that there should be was found. The difference between the mass of helium calculated, and the mass of helium at the end of the experiment, shows how much helium has escaped. If the age of the crystal were known, we could calculate the escape age.
Unfortunately, we do not know the age of the crystals. However, the crystals have two possible ages—an evolutionary age of 1.5 billion years, and a creationist age. The amount of helium that has escaped, or diffused, is divided first by 1.5 billion, then by 6,000 years—the creationist age. Both ages are plotted on a graph, along with other plots from other crystals. Finally, some independent experimental results were obtained for helium diffusion by deliberately heating other crystals.
The results of these experiments, when plotted on to a graph, fit with the creationist long-age rates, and not with the evolutionary model.
Prayer: Thank You, Lord, for scientists, carrying out real science experiments. Thank You that we can expect scientific observations to be consistent with biblical truth. Thank You for pointing us to the truth of Your world. Amen.
Author: Paul F. Taylor
Ref: Humphreys, R. (et al), Radioactivity and the Age of the Earth, (ICR).
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