Carbon-14 has a half-life of 5,730 ± 40 years—i.e., half the amount of the radioisotope present at any given time will undergo spontaneous disintegration during the succeeding 5,730 years.

Is carbon-14 dating absolute?

Radiocarbon dating One of the most widely used and well-known absolute dating techniques is carbon-14 (or radiocarbon) dating, which is used to date organic remains. With death, the uptake of carbon-14 stops. It takes 5,730 years for half the carbon-14 to change to nitrogen; this is the half-life of carbon-14.