Why measure the carbon-14 works? Are the carbons atoms create some manner in the life of the organism now dead and fossilized? How do we know that the atoms weren’t there before?
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Carbon has two forms, carbon-14 and carbon-12. Carbon-14 will decay to carbon-12 naturally and consistently. Through observation, we know that if we have a billion c-14 atoms, after a certain time, half of them will decay to c-12 (half-life).
Carbon-14 is created in the atmosphere and there’s a consistent ratio of 14/12 in atmospheric carbon. Living beings take in this carbon from the atmosphere. Plants by photosynthesis, animals by eating plants. So animals always have the same 14/12 ratio as the atmosphere when they’re alive. As soon as they die, they stop taking in atmospheric carbon and as c-14 changes to c-12, the ratio of 14/12 in their bodies drops. So by measuring the 14/12 ratio of something dead, we can tell very accurately how long ago it died.
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