Radiocarbon is a radioactive isotope of carbon with an atomic mass of 14. It is also known as Carbon-14 or C-14. This term refers to any form of carbon that contains this isotope, which occurs naturally in the environment and is taken up by plants during photosynthesis. When animals eat these plants, they too take up radiocarbon, which means it gets into the food chain.
Radiocarbon dating is a method used to determine the age of an object containing organic material by measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining in the sample. This technique has been widely used for archaeological and historical purposes because it can accurately date materials up to around 50,000 years old.
In summary, radiocarbon refers to a radioactive isotope of carbon that is present naturally in the environment and can be used to determine the age of organic material through dating techniques.