How Carbon14 is made

 

How Carbon14 is made-Cosmic ray enter the earth’s atmosphere in large numbers every day. For example, every person is hit by about half a million cosmic rays every hour. It is not uncommon for a cosmic ray to collide with an atom in the atmosphere, creating a secondary cosmic ray in the form of an energetic neutron toms. When the neutron collides, a nitrogen-14(seven protons, seven neutrons) atom turns into a carbon-14 atom (one proton, zero neutrons). Carbon-14 is radioactive, with a half-life about 5,700 years.