Carbon Dating Carbon-14 dating assumes that the carbon dioxide on Earth today has the same radioactive content as it did centuries ago. If this is true, the amount of 14 absorbed by a tree that grew several centuries ago should be the same as the amount of 14 absorbed by a tree growing today. A piece of ancient charcoal contains only 15 as much of the radioactive carbon as a piece of modern charcoal. How long ago was the tree burned to make the ancient charcoal? (The half-life of 14 is 5715 years.)