Myths Regarding Radiocarbon Dating   MYTH #1. Radiocarbon is
used to date the age of rocks, which enables scientists to date
the age of the earth.  Radiocarbon is not used to date the age
of rocks or to determine the age of the earth. Other radiometric
dating methods such as potassium-argon or rubidium-strontium are
used for such purposes by those who believe that the earth is
billions of years old. Radiocarbon is not suitable for this
purpose because it is only applicable: a) on a time scale of
thousands of years and b) to remains of once-living organisms
(with minor exceptions, from which rocks are excluded).   Some
organic materials do give radiocarbon ages in excess of 50,000
"radiocarbon years." However, it is important to distinguish
between "radiocarbon years" and calendar years. These two
measures of time will only be the same if all of the assumptions
which go into the conventional radiocarbon dating technique are
valid. Comparison of ancient, historically dated artifacts (from
Egypt, for example) wi