Is There Any Justification For Teaching Evolution In School?

Part 6

measured. By calculating the sum of lead in the object with the

rate of how fast uranium decays, the calculated length of time

that the uranium has been decaying becomes the apparent age of the

object.

This system of dating seems as though it well supports an old

Earth since by using it dates ranging in the billions of year have

been yielded. The only trouble is that whether or not the

apparent age is really the true age of an object depends

completely on the validity of the assumptions necessary to

complete the calculations. This chronometer is based upon

uniformitarianism, and the following assumption are made in order

to complete the calculations:

1 *The system must have always been a closed system*.

That is, it cannot have ever been altered by anything outside

the system, nothing could be removed, and nothing could have

been added to it.

2. *The system must have initially contained none of its daughter

component*.

If any of the daughter component was initially present in the

system, that amount must be considered.

3. *The process rate must always have been the same*.

If the process of decay has ever changed, more rapid, or less

rapid, that must be considered also (138).

Not one of these assumptions are valid! Thus, an apparent age is

only an "educated guesses and may well be completely unrelated to

the true age" (139). When considering the assumptions connected

to radiometric dating, one might think that the scientist might

just as well pick the age he wants and modify the assumptions

until the apparent age agrees with his wishes. In effect, this is

precisely what he does when he arbitrarily rejects all

calculations which yield a young age for the earth and all of its

systems (*Case* 49).

There are many processes that yield a young age when using

these same assumptions. For example, when uranium decays, it

produces a gas called Argon 4. By measuring the amount of Argon

that escapes into the atmosphere each year, the apparent age of

the atmosphere can be calculated. The answer to this equation

reduces the age of the atmosphere down to only several thousand

years (Cook 213).

The same can be done by measuring the amount of materials

that flow into the ocean each year. When the quantity of a

particular material in the ocean is know, the amount of that

material flowing into the ocean each year can be multiplied until

the present sum is reached. The following are typical results:

Chemical Years to Accumulate in Ocean

Element from River Inflow

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Nickel 18,000

Lead 2,000

Gold 560,000

Mercury 42,000

Copper 50,000