Isotopes of magnesium

Nuclides with atomic number of 12 but with different mass numbers
(12Mg)
Main isotopes[1] Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
24Mg 79% stable
25Mg 10% stable
26Mg 11% stable
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Mg)
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Magnesium (12Mg) naturally occurs in three stable isotopes: 24
Mg
, 25
Mg
, and 26
Mg
. There are 19 radioisotopes that have been discovered, ranging from 18
Mg
to 40
Mg
(with the exception of 39
Mg
). The longest-lived radioisotope is 28
Mg
with a half-life of 20.915(9) h. The lighter isotopes mostly decay to isotopes of sodium while the heavier isotopes decay to isotopes of aluminium. The shortest-lived is proton-unbound 18
Mg
with a half-life of 4.0(3.4) zeptoseconds.

A precise measurement of the neutron-rich 40Mg in 2019 showed the unexpected difference in its nuclear structure, compared to the lighter neighboring isotopes.[4][5]

The abundances of the naturally occurring isotopes of magnesium.

List of isotopes

Nuclide
Z N Isotopic mass (Da)[6]
[n 1]
Half-life[1]
[n 2]
Decay
mode[1]
[n 3]
Daughter
isotope
[n 4]
Spin and
parity[1]
[n 5][n 2]
Natural abundance (mole fraction)
Normal proportion[1] Range of variation
18
Mg
[7]
12 6 4.0(3.4) zs 2p 16
Ne
0+
19
Mg
12 7 19.034180(60) 5(3) ps 2p 17
Ne
1/2−#
20
Mg
12 8 20.0187631(20) 90.4(5) ms β+ (69.7(1.2)%) 20
Na
0+
β+p (30.3(1.2)%) 19
Ne
21
Mg
12 9 21.0117058(8) 120.0(4) ms β+ (79.8(2.1)%) 21
Na
5/2+
β+p (20.1(2.1)%) 20
Ne
β+α (0.116(18)%) 17
F
β+pα (0.016(3)%) 16
O
22
Mg
12 10 21.99957060(17) 3.8745(7) s β+ 22
Na
0+
23
Mg
12 11 22.99412377(3) 11.3039(32) s β+ 23
Na
3/2+
24
Mg
12 12 23.985041689(14) Stable 0+ [0.78880.7905]
25
Mg
12 13 24.98583697(5) Stable 5/2+ [0.099880.10034]
26
Mg
[n 6]
12 14 25.98259297(3) Stable 0+ [0.10960.1109]
27
Mg
12 15 26.98434065(5) 9.435(27) min β 27
Al
1/2+
28
Mg
12 16 27.98387543(28) 20.915(9) h β 28
Al
0+
29
Mg
12 17 28.9886072(4) 1.30(12) s β 29
Al
3/2+
30
Mg
12 18 29.9904655(14) 317(4) ms β (> 99.94%) 30
Al
0+
βn (< 0.06%) 29
Al
31
Mg
12 19 30.996648(3) 270(2) ms β (93.8(1.9)%) 31
Al
1/2+
βn (6.2(1.9)%) 30
Al
32
Mg
12 20 31.999110(4) 80.4(4) ms β (94.5(5)%) 32
Al
0+
βn (5.5(5)%) 31
Al
33
Mg
12 21 33.0053279(29) 92.0(1.2) ms β (86(2)%) 33
Al
3/2−
βn (14(2)%) 32
Al
β2n ?[n 7] 31
Al
 ?
34
Mg
12 22 34.008935(7) 44.9(4) ms β (> 78.9(7.0)%) 34
Al
0+
βn (21(7)%) 33
Al
β2n (< 0.1%) 32
Al
35
Mg
12 23 35.01679(29) 11.3(6) ms βn (52(46)%) 34
Al
(3/2−, 5/2−)
β (48(46)%) 35
Al
β2n ?[n 7] 33
Al
 ?
36
Mg
12 24 36.02188(74) 3.9(1.3) ms β (52(12)%) 36
Al
0+
βn (48(12)%) 35
Al
β2n ?[n 7] 34
Al
 ?
37
Mg
12 25 37.03029(75) 8(4) ms β ?[n 7] 37
Al
 ?
(3/2−)
βn ?[n 7] 36
Al
 ?
β2n ?[n 7] 35
Al
 ?
38
Mg
12 26 38.03658(54)# 3.1(4 (stat), 2 (sys)) ms[8] βn (81%) 37
Al
0+
β (9%) 38
Al
β2n (9%) 36
Al
40
Mg
12 28 40.05319(54)# 1# ms [> 170 ns] β ?[n 7] 40
Al
 ?
0+
βn ?[n 7] 39
Al
 ?
β2n ?[n 7] 38
Al
 ?
This table header & footer:
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  1. ^ ( ) – Uncertainty (1σ) is given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits.
  2. ^ a b # – Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
  3. ^ Modes of decay:
    n: Neutron emission
    p: Proton emission
  4. ^ Bold symbol as daughter – Daughter product is stable.
  5. ^ ( ) spin value – Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
  6. ^ Used in radiodating events early in the Solar System's history
  7. ^ a b c d e f g h i Decay mode shown is energetically allowed, but has not been experimentally observed to occur in this nuclide.

External links

  • Magnesium isotopes data from The Berkeley Laboratory Isotopes Project's

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
  2. ^ "Standard Atomic Weights: Magnesium". CIAAW. 2011.
  3. ^ Prohaska, Thomas; Irrgeher, Johanna; Benefield, Jacqueline; Böhlke, John K.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Ding, Tiping; Dunn, Philip J. H.; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Meijer, Harro A. J. (2022-05-04). "Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. doi:10.1515/pac-2019-0603. ISSN 1365-3075.
  4. ^ glennroberts (2019-02-07). "New Measurements of Exotic Magnesium Suggest Surprising Shape-Shift". Berkeley Lab News Center. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  5. ^ "NP A Change in Structure for a S... | U.S. DOE Office of Science(SC)". science.osti.gov. 2019-08-01. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  6. ^ Wang, Meng; Huang, W.J.; Kondev, F.G.; Audi, G.; Naimi, S. (2021). "The AME 2020 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs and references*". Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030003. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddaf.
  7. ^ Jin, Y.; et al. (2021). "First observation of the four-proton unbound nucleus 18Mg". Physical Review Letters. 127 (262502): 262502. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.127.262502. OSTI 1837749. PMID 35029460. S2CID 245434485.
  8. ^ Crawford, H. L.; Tripathi, V.; Allmond, J. M.; et al. (2022). "Crossing N = 28 toward the neutron drip line: first measurement of half-lives at FRIB". Physical Review Letters. 129 (212501): 212501. Bibcode:2022PhRvL.129u2501C. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.212501. PMID 36461950. S2CID 253600995.
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Group 1 2   3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Period Hydrogen and
alkali metals
Alkaline
earth metals
Pnicto­gens Chal­co­gens Halo­gens Noble gases
1 2
3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
11
Isotopes § List
12
13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36
37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54
55 56 1 asterisk 71 72 73 74 75 76 77 78 79
Hg
80
81 82 83 84 85 86
87 88 1 asterisk 103 104 105 106 107 108 109 110 111 112 113 114 115 116 117 118
119 120
1 asterisk 57 58 59 60 61 62 63 64 65 66 67 68 69 70  
1 asterisk 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 100 101 102
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