Freethought & Rationalism Archive

Roma · 04-30-2003, 06:38 AM

From this site :

Quote:

The moon also contains considerable quantities of U-236 and Th-230. These are short-lived isotopes that would be gone if the moon were billions of years old.

The reference given is "Wysong, R. L. The Creation-Evolution Controversy. Midland, Mich.: Inquiry Press, 1976, p. 177".

I remember hearing about this at my (Christian) high school and am wondering what the deal is with this.

-Roma

Aquila ka Hecate · 04-30-2003, 06:46 AM

Hi Roma,

U-236 has a halflife of over 23 million years.

This is hardly 'short lived'.

Th 230 is faster-around 75 thousand yrs I think

SULPHUR · 04-30-2003, 07:29 AM

which means they could hang around for billions of years. what do they mean by considerable?

ps418 · 04-30-2003, 07:42 AM

The "argument" makes a crucial assumption that is false: the assumption that the lunar Th-230 is primordial, rather than a decay product of a longer-lived isotope. In fact, Th-230 is a decay product of U-238, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Which means that Th-230 will be generated for many billions of years. So there argument makes about as much sense as the argument that the earth is young because of the presence of C-14.

Patrick

LeftCoast · 04-30-2003, 02:22 PM

I found This Page right here on our very own sight that addresses exactly this issue.

Regards,

Roma · 04-30-2003, 05:50 PM

LeftCoast,

Thank you for pointing me to that site. It was very informative.

-Roma

05-02-2003, 11:00 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Roma
From this site :

The reference given is "Wysong, R. L. The Creation-Evolution Controversy. Midland, Mich.: Inquiry Press, 1976, p. 177".

I remember hearing about this at my (Christian) high school and am wondering what the deal is with this.

-Roma

I always find these stupid arguments to be so convenient. Especially the one about the moon dust.

Quote:

Outer space is full of dust._ For many years, scientists were afraid to land on the moon for fear of all this dust that had accumulated._ They calculated about 1" of dust for every 10,000 years._

Conveniently:

Quote:

When they arrived on the moon, they only found about 1/2" of dust. After they found out they were very wrong, they tried to retract it. By that time, it was a little bit too late to say, "Oops."

Wow, that would mean the moon is only 5000 years old... how convenient!

I'm glad I'm going to be working on a B.S. degree in physics*. We need more people to get educated in science, dammit!

[*starting this Fall, although I'm already a member of the Society of Physics Students and subscribe to Physics Today]

TheUnbeliever · 05-03-2003, 12:41 PM

Which is exactly why I plan to major in Physics.

SULPHUR · 05-05-2003, 05:08 AM

not geophysics. then you have the best of many worlds.

asvani · 05-05-2003, 07:22 AM

Welcome to the brotherhood of physicists!!! Yes, I know it's not very PC but physicists are overwhelmingly from one particular gender and no prize for guessing which!

05-05-2003, 05:08 AM	#9
SULPHUR Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: hobart,tasmania Posts: 551	why not geophysics. then you have the best of many worlds.

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04-30-2003, 06:46 AM	#2
Aquila ka Hecate Regular Member Join Date: Nov 2001 Location: Luna City Posts: 379	Hi Roma, U-236 has a halflife of over 23 million years. This is hardly 'short lived'. Th 230 is faster-around 75 thousand yrs I think

04-30-2003, 07:29 AM	#3
SULPHUR Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2002 Location: hobart,tasmania Posts: 551	which means they could hang around for billions of years. what do they mean by considerable?

04-30-2003, 07:42 AM	#4
ps418 Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2001 Location: Louisville, KY, USA Posts: 1,840	The "argument" makes a crucial assumption that is false: the assumption that the lunar Th-230 is primordial, rather than a decay product of a longer-lived isotope. In fact, Th-230 is a decay product of U-238, which has a half-life of 4.5 billion years. Which means that Th-230 will be generated for many billions of years. So there argument makes about as much sense as the argument that the earth is young because of the presence of C-14. Patrick

04-30-2003, 02:22 PM	#5
LeftCoast Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: San Diego, CA, USA Posts: 913	I found This Page right here on our very own sight that addresses exactly this issue. Regards,

04-30-2003, 05:50 PM	#6
Roma Junior Member Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Ohio, USA Posts: 66	LeftCoast, Thank you for pointing me to that site. It was very informative. -Roma

05-03-2003, 12:41 PM	#8
TheUnbeliever Junior Member Join Date: May 2003 Location: United States Posts: 84	Which is exactly why I plan to major in Physics.

05-05-2003, 07:22 AM	#10
asvani Junior Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Champaign Posts: 12	Welcome to the brotherhood of physicists!!! Yes, I know it's not very PC but physicists are overwhelmingly from one particular gender and no prize for guessing which!

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