How did Scientist come up with the theory of the earth being like 4.4 billion years old?

Question

Im just kinda confused right now and im pretty sure in the bible the earth isnt that old :S ?

thx for your help

Answer 1

I believe most of it comes from carbon dating, which requires once living materials to test.  but there are other tests they show on TLC, the Discovery Channel, and even PBS

Answer 2

As far as the Bible is concerned, I think Genesis tells what God did and science tells how he did it. The people in ancient times who wrote all this down would not have understood modern science.

"2 Peter 3:8–9 reads:

‘But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day."



I don't know whether Geologists or Astrophysicists first proposed the currently accepted age of the Earth, but geologists have found rocks 4.4 billion years old.  So far scientists have not found a way to determine the exact age of the Earth directly from Earth rocks because Earth's oldest rocks have been recycled and destroyed by the process of plate tectonics. If there are any of Earth's primordial rocks left in their original state, they have not yet been found. Nevertheless, scientists have been able to determine the probable age of the Solar System and to calculate an age for the Earth by assuming that the Earth and the rest of the solid bodies in the Solar System formed at the same time and are, therefore, of the same age.

In Western Australia, single zircon crystals found in younger sedimentary rocks have radiometric ages of as much as 4.3 billion years, making these tiny crystals the oldest materials to be found on Earth so far.

The source rocks for these zircon crystals have not yet been found. The ages measured for Earth's oldest rocks and oldest crystals show that the Earth is at least 4.3 billion years in age but do not reveal the exact age of Earth's formation. The best age for the Earth (4.54 Ga) is based on old, presumed single-stage leads coupled with the Pb ratios in troilite from iron meteorites, specifically the Canyon Diablo meteorite. In addition, mineral grains (zircon) with U-Pb ages of 4.4 Ga have recently been reported from sedimentary rocks in west-central Australia.

Answer 3

Haha they counted how many rings it has.

Answer 4

Carbon dating of some of the oldest faces on the planet.

Answer 5

Why don't you ask how the Bible came up with the age of the earth?

The only reason people don't constantly say the Bible is full of c**p, is because they're afraid of the reaction of all those moronic religious fanatics who believe the Bible is "the word of God." Which Bible?

God is beyond writing. The Bible was written by people. People are flawed, so they make mistakes and they lie. The Bible has many wise and useful stories, but it can be misinterpreted or just wrong.

I highly recommend the book “Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why” by Bart D. Ehrman. You will learn that the Bible is an arbitrary collection that is a subset of many ancient Judeao-Christian stories many that show evidence of errors as they were copied down through the years.

Answer 6

not the theory... we kind of know just to let you know...

and it is 4.6

came from absolute dating. a proven method of dating through radioactive elements.

kind of makes you doubt the bible huh....

6000 years old? i don't think so....

native americans came to the americas 10,000 years ago...

and there were dinosaurs millions of years ago....

duh

Answer 7

A couple of the other people that answered before me were close... Radiometeric dating is used of which carbon dating is a part, but the half-life for carbon 13 is too short for dating the earth. Potassium-argon dating is used for the oldest rocks from earth and on meteorites.  Potassium 40 has a half-life of 1.3 billion years which makes it very useful time range needed to come close age the earth formed.

Answer 8

There can be a conflict between science and the bible if your belief is once of strict interpretation - or creationism.  No one in science will say they have an exact age of the earth - they have estimates and science's estimates of what has occurred in the formation of the universe, our solar system, and our planet is changing constantly.  What science can do is tell you that given what we know now; we know the earth is greater than 4.4 (now 4.6) billion years old.

Strict interpretation of the English-translation of the bible indicates that the earth is much younger than scientist estimates of the age of the earth - by a factor of nearly 1 million to one!  Christians that strictly interpret explain away science (such as dinosaur and other fossils) as the work of the devil or as fiction.

Most Christian faiths have evolved to a belief that allows science to be compatible with believe in God - or the so-called intelligent design theories.  For many of these, this transformation of belief has occurred rapidly in the last one hundred years but it started with the revelations of the great scientist of the middle ages.  

It is important to know how the bible was created.

The bible itself was comprised of writings available at the time - around the 4th century.   The New Testament writings were from the 1st and 2nd centuries.  It is accurate that some writings of the time could not have their authenticity established and so they were omitted from the bible.  There are bibles that were formed independently of the current bible, such as the Ethiopian Orthodox Church which has their own bible, and it includes other books that were left out of the current bible.  The Dead Sea scrolls have established that some of these books were probably inappropriate left out by those that formed the current western bible.  

As with a translation to many languages, the meaning of the passage is passed through the person who is the translator.  That is why the text has been retranslated from time-to-time from as close to the original manuscripts as we can get and even these original manuscripts may have already been translated once.  This is why people should constantly question what they read and interpret when reading the bible.

If you are a Christian, don't let the non-believers cast doubt on your faith.  The non-believers believe in something to, just not the same thing, and are willing to mock those that believe in something different than their own personal beliefs.   Even if you follow a strict interpretation of the bible, there is nothing wrong with that - maybe, the devil is the one that is influencing the scientists.  There are many things that can't be explained by science except by pure speculation.  How did the universe begin?  Why does it even have a beginning?  What was there before it began?  There are plenty of mysteries left to allow room for both a belief in God and science.

One thing I know for sure.  Jesus did walk this earth.  He left a lasting impression on his followers - such that they were willing to die rather than to change their belief.  Those followers nearly universally believed that Jesus was the Son of God.

Answer 9

Radioactive isotope dating of the oldest rock

that they could find + some educated guesswork.

( The Biblical estimate is some 5000 Yr.s, and we

have solid tree ring, ice core, and varve, (Wiki it),

data that goes back way farther than that, cross

referenced from many locations.)

Answer 10

fossil record... LOL

its 100% fact... the bible is wrong...

humans are older than the bible says the earth is... LOL