How can scientists know the half-life of materials that take 1 billion years to decay even slightly. Just how much assumption and guessing goes into radiometric dating?

If a new scientist were to come into the field and take away 5 zero's or add 5 zeros to every measurement, so that all things are equal, would it actually matter in the grand scheme of science?

>>16727743 (OP)
The TL ; DR I recall from the top of my head is that there are some things that are kind of like "decay fossils", in that some decay products are very fragile and get lost over time by erosion etc, but sometimes they get trapped inside protective shells, like an amber fossil, and then scientists can peek into *those* preserved decay products when doing sample analysis to eliminate a lot of environmental noise. So they're basically looking at materials that are *only* known to be naturally produced from decay and are also very difficult to naturally preserve, meaning you'd need to asspull some super convoluted alternate explanation as to how they got formed that doesn't involve decay dating.

>>16727743 (OP)
[eqn] A= \lambda N [/eqn]
It's possible to make an isotopically pure sample with high enough activity to accurately measure and then use it to calculate the decay constant. For alpha decay there are first prnciples ways to calculate the half life but they aren't very accurate.

>>16727743 (OP)
>How can scientists know the half-life of materials that take 1 billion years to decay even slightly.
Every alpha particle emitted represents one atom decaying. You stick a Geiger counter to it, account for the fraction of the surface area you're measuring, and take the average of all measurements. That's the decay rate.

>Just how much assumption and guessing goes into radiometric dating?
Pretty much just uniformitarianism. Assume the physical processes happening today acted the same way at an arbitrary point in the past unless you can identify a mechanism by which it would change and evidence that it has.

>>16727743 (OP)
Simple, you can take a sample of material, wait for some of it to decay and then calculate the half life based on how much decayed in the time that you waited.

>>16727743 (OP)
>how to use statistics
thats a chatgpt/google question not a 4chan question lmao

>>16727743 (OP)
>what is an average

>>16727769
so they’re just praying that theres no possible way to alter the trend.

>>16727779
They're not "praying for" anything.
There is no evidence that the trend has changed. There is no good model by which the trend could change. So there's no reason to assume these trends would change.

>>16727779
Just say it I know you want to. Take the mask off.

>>16727779
>no possible way to alter the trend
There is no evidence that the trends are changing. If it were possible for decay rates to change making superheavy elements would be a lot easier.

>>16727743 (OP)
>this nigga can't into HS statistics.
The absolute state of this board...

>>16727779
Oh there is a way to alter the trend! By subjecting shit to ludicrous levels of temperature, pressure, etc and getting exotic states like a quark-gluon plasma or with electroweak unification. Then you can't have properly defined hadrons to decay and idk I guess W bosons might work differently in unification that shit's beyond me.

>>16727814
Its not even statistics, algebra.

>>16727743 (OP)

The Earth is 6000 years old.

>>16727743 (OP)
Something, something, count the Avocados. There's so many you gotta write like a scientist. First write a ten, then count the zeroes, I think there are 23. That's like 1/6th of what you really need.
See, small things get big, fast.

>>16727872
HS statistic is applied algebra.

>>16727786
>>16727797
>i cant detect dark matter but its there TRUST ME BRO
the absolute state of /sci/

>>16727823
sounds interesting. more research needs to be done in altering decay rates.

>>16728111
In what world is this statement even remotely relevant or topical?

>>16728111
>dark matter
>the weak nuclear force
pick one

>>16728150
tbf some people trying to explain DM with neutrinos/WIMP/particles that can interact with WNF, at least a part of the DM

>>16728130
First time visiting our retarded backwater?