Carbon-12

What is Carbon-12?

Carbon-12 is the most common type of a substance called carbon that we find on Earth. It is very important because scientists use it to measure the weight of all other tiny parts in nature, called atoms. Carbon-12 has exactly 12 units of weight, which makes it a perfect standard.

How Does Carbon-12 Work?

Carbon-12 has six tiny parts called protons, six called neutrons, and six called electrons. These parts come together to make up an atom of carbon-12. It is one of two stable kinds of carbon, the other being carbon-13.

Why Do We Use Carbon-12?

For many years, scientists used another substance called oxygen to help measure things. But in 1959, they decided to change this and start using carbon-12 instead. This made measurements even more accurate. Today, carbon-12 helps scientists all over the world keep their measurements the same.