Evolution of Man :: Science Anthropology

Evolution of ManScientists continue to debate the history of man. It is primarily agreed upon by the scientific community, however, that humans evolved from lesser beings, and this endeavor get out function to provide evidence to support this claim. Several points will be outlined, including the general physical changes that occurred between several key species on the evolution of man, and a discussion of dating manners utilize to pinpoint the age of the fossils. This essay will begin with a brief discussion of dating proficiencys. In the study of hominid evolution, two main methods of dating are used carbon-14 and potassium-argon dating. Carbon-14 dating involves the decay of radioactive C-14, which has a half life of 5770 years. This makes this method useful for dating of recent fossils, with good accuracy, up to 50,000 years back. later on 5770 years, half of the carbon-14 in a fossil decays to nitrogen-14. Since the ratio of carbon-12 to carbon-14 in a living organism rema ins the same as in the surroundings around them because the organism constantly eats and replenishes it, if it were to die, the ratio would change greatly after many years. It is the difference between this ratio now and the succession is died that allows a date for it to be established. Potassium-argon dating, another dating method, is possible collect to volcanic alter and rocks found near many fossil sites. Rocks and ash created in this manner contain potassium-40, but no argon. As prison term passes, the potassium-40 decays into argon-40. In the laboratory, the sample is reheated, and since argon-40 is a gas, it is released. The ratio of argon-40 released to potassium-40 still present allows for a date to be assigned to objects near the sample. However, due to potassiums high half-life (1.3 billion years), it is only useful as a dating technique for finds older than 500,000 years old. Also, it is only useful where volcanic activity existed. twain these methods have error margins, ranging from a few thousand years in carbon-14 dating to tens of thousands of years, or more, for potassium-argon dating. However, thanks to scientific breakthroughs, these two processes can be used with reasonable security in establishing a time for fossils. gentleman have existed on the Earth for approximately 3.4 million years. At least, thats from when the oldest human ancestors have been found. The oldest known human is the fossil Lucy, an Australopithecus, discovered by Donald Johnson and M.