An Etymological Dictionary of Astronomy and Astrophysics

A radioactive isotope of carbon, whose nucleus contains 6 protons and 8 neutrons;
also called → radiocarbon. ¹⁴C is naturally produced in the atmosphere when a neutron created by a cosmic ray hits the nucleus of an atom of nitrogen-14. The nucleus absorbs the neutron and ejects a proton, thereby transforming itself into ¹⁴C. It decays back to nitrogen, with a half-life is 5730 years, after emitting an electron (¹⁴₆C → ¹⁴₇N + e^- + ν_e). See also → radiocarbon dating.

See also: → carbon; → four + -teen, an inflected form of the root of → ten.