What is Carbon-14 Dating? Part 2 In session two on carbon-14, Mike discusses two important aspects about carbon-14. 1. How does the carbon-14 dating method work? 2. How reliable is the carbon-14 dating method? Mike points out three things that must be known for carbon-14 dating to work. 1. How long does it take C-14 to decay? 2. What was the starting amount of C-14 in the creature when it died? 3. Are there any assumptions involved? Question one poses no problem. Numbers two and three do present major problems for the carbon-14 dating method. Question three also challenges the reliability of reported dates.