Radiocarbon dating

This weekend's reading assignment dealt with the "Shroud of Turin", an article that I found to be rather interesting. Much controversy over this 14 ft X 3 ft herringbone weave linen took place since it was originally thought to be a forgery. In order to end the controversy, the cloth was analyzed by a method called radiocarbon dating. Traditionally, this method required a large chunk of the cloth to be sacrificed, an idea that was initially not preferred. However, as technology continued to progress, radiocarbon dating became the method of choice as the test sample required decreased in size. I wanted to learn more about this topic, and so, I did a little outside research.
Developed by J. R. Arnold and W. F. Libby in 1949, radiocarbon dating relies on a simple natural phenomenon. The earth's atmosphere is struck by cosmic rays from space, producing carbon 14, an unstable isotope of carbon. Over time radiocarbon atoms decay into nitrogen atoms. This tendency to decay, called radioactivity, is what gives radiocarbon the name radiocarbon.
Radiocarbon dating works by measuring the ratio of radiocarbon to stable carbon in a sample. In the case of the Shroud, this is done by accelerator mass spectrometry. From this measurement, the age in radiocarbon years is calculated. The final step is calibration, after which an estimate of the age of the sample is determined.
There are imitations, however, to radiocarbon dating. Larger samples are better off since purification and distillation remove some matter. And although radiocarbon dating through TAMS is an option (as was used for the Shroud), it is very expensive and still somewhat experimental.

Sources:
http://id-archserve.ucsb.edu/anth3/courseware/Chronology/08_Radiocarbon_Dating.html
http://www.biblicalchronologist.org/answers/c14_method.php