The time it takes for 14C to radioactively decay is described by its half-life. C has a half-life of 5,730 years. In other words, after 5,730 years, only half of the original amount of 14C remains in a sample of organic material.

How long does it take for carbon-14 to decay into nitrogen 14?

By emitting an electron and an electron antineutrino, one of the neutrons in the carbon-14 atom decays to a proton and the carbon-14 (half-life of 5,700 ± 40 years) decays into the stable (non-radioactive) isotope nitrogen-14.

Does C 14 spontaneously decay?

Carbon-14 is radioactive and it slowly breaks apart or DECAYS. The decay process involves a spontaneous loss of an electron as a beta particle. In this reaction, radioactive, carbon-14 losses a neutron which would have caused the reaction product, to lose mass.