Joe studies for a couple of days. Allegedly

After going a bit quiet for a couple of days Joe hits back with a monster post. Not a swear word in it! Perhaps the peroxide is taking effect.

However the reason the age of the mother element would affect the ratio is because that is what we are dating.

Yeah, b'coz that's where the clock is ticking! The radioactive wind-up clock that you can speed up and slow down. But don't speed it up too much! That waste heat has to be dealt with by the designer.

The ratio is indicative of the decay rate- time it has been decaying

Yes indeed. The rain in Spain also falls mainly on the plain. The cat sat on the mat. The ratio is indicative of the decay rate, the time it has been decaying for. A man, a plan, a cat, a canal – Panama!

For example if we start with a pound of pure U238, then in about 4.47 by we should have a half pound of U238 and a half pound of Pb206- 50/50 ratio.

If Joe had a pound of pure U238, or for that matter anything where "pure" was a relevant state, I'd have to call it in. For his own good of course!

Now what about if you only have one atom of U238?

You could keep it next to your brain cell! They could go on dates, dance. It'd be awfully swell.

In 4.47 by you will either still have that atom- of U238- or any one of the nuclides in the decay chain down to and including Pb206.

For a guy who refuses to say how old the earth is, he's doing a good job of undermining his own argument. Hey, Joe. Given that nobody is around for 4.47 by how come we know how long this stuff takes to decay?

Allegedly, however, if you do this with enough atoms then 50% of the time the 4.47 by timeline will be met.

?

Allegedly, however, if you do this with enough atoms then 50% of the time the 4.47 by timeline will be met.

Allegedly? Huh, OK, it is ID guy I suppose.

Most of the decay time is in the first step- from U238 to Th234 (more than 4 by).

You know what Joe? I don't believe you! Were you there? IOW it's just all hearsay, sensible people know that nobody was here 4.47 by ago as that means that Adam and Eve did not exist. Were you there 4.47 by ago? Were you? Were you there?

So if some/ most/ all the U238 that gets incorporated into the crystal is already 4 byo then that would skew the final ratio in favor of an older rock.

Gotta wind the clocks back up before you incorporate it into the crystal! Of course! Account for the age differential that way! That's what I've been telling them for years, even wrote an inter-office memo regarding it. Only supposed to blow the bladdy doors off. Etc.

Allegedly.