What element, found in all plants and animals, is used by scientists to determine approximate dates for an artifact’s age?

There are a number that can be used but I suspect you are thinking of carbon since that element is in all plants. If you have the resources for Google, and I suspect you do since you are posting here, go to www.google.com and type in radioactive dating or carbon dating. You will see numerous discussions and some are very complicated but others are put in simple terms.

The element that is used by scientists to determine approximate dates for an artifact's age is carbon. Specifically, they utilize the isotope carbon-14 (C-14), a radioactive form of carbon.

The element that is used by scientists to determine approximate dates for an artifact's age is carbon. More specifically, scientists use a radioactive isotope of carbon called Carbon-14. This is because carbon-14 is constantly being formed in the Earth's atmosphere through interactions between cosmic rays and nitrogen molecules. Plants, during photosynthesis, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, including a small fraction of carbon-14.

When plants are consumed by animals, the carbon-14 becomes part of their tissues. As long as the plant or animal is alive, it maintains a balance between the amount of carbon-14 it absorbs and the amount that naturally decays over time. However, after death, the carbon-14 begins to decay at a known rate through a process called radioactive decay.

By measuring the amount of carbon-14 remaining in a sample, scientists can estimate the time that has passed since the organism died. This method is called radiocarbon dating or carbon dating. It is widely used in archaeological and geological research to determine the age of organic materials, such as bones, wood, and charcoal, up to about 50,000 years old.