Isotopes of zinc
Encyclopedia
Naturally occurring zinc
(Zn) is composed of the 5 stable isotope
s 64Zn, 66Zn, 67Zn, 68Zn, and 70Zn with 64Zn being the most abundant (48.6% natural abundance
). Twenty-five radioisotopes have been characterised with the most abundant and stable being 65Zn with a half-life
of 244.26 days, and 72Zn with a half-life of 46.5 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 14 hours and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 1 second. This element also has 10 meta states.
Zinc has been proposed as a "salting
" material for nuclear weapon
s (cobalt
is another, better-known salting material). A jacket of isotopically enriched
64Zn, irradiated by the intense high-energy neutron flux from an exploding thermonuclear weapon, would transmute into the radioactive isotope 65Zn with a half-life of 244 days and produce approximately 1.115 MeV
of gamma radiation
, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the weapon's fallout
for several days. Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used.
Standard atomic mass: 65.409(4) u
Zinc
Zinc , or spelter , is a metallic chemical element; it has the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. It is the first element in group 12 of the periodic table. Zinc is, in some respects, chemically similar to magnesium, because its ion is of similar size and its only common oxidation state is +2...
(Zn) is composed of the 5 stable isotope
Isotope
Isotopes are variants of atoms of a particular chemical element, which have differing numbers of neutrons. Atoms of a particular element by definition must contain the same number of protons but may have a distinct number of neutrons which differs from atom to atom, without changing the designation...
s 64Zn, 66Zn, 67Zn, 68Zn, and 70Zn with 64Zn being the most abundant (48.6% natural abundance
Natural abundance
In chemistry, natural abundance refers to the abundance of isotopes of a chemical element as naturally found on a planet. The relative atomic mass of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table...
). Twenty-five radioisotopes have been characterised with the most abundant and stable being 65Zn with a half-life
Half-life
Half-life, abbreviated t½, is the period of time it takes for the amount of a substance undergoing decay to decrease by half. The name was originally used to describe a characteristic of unstable atoms , but it may apply to any quantity which follows a set-rate decay.The original term, dating to...
of 244.26 days, and 72Zn with a half-life of 46.5 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 14 hours and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 1 second. This element also has 10 meta states.
Zinc has been proposed as a "salting
Salted bomb
A salted bomb is a variation of a nuclear weapon designed to produce enhanced quantities of radioactive fallout, rendering a large area uninhabitable...
" material for nuclear weapon
Nuclear weapon
A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission or a combination of fission and fusion. Both reactions release vast quantities of energy from relatively small amounts of matter. The first fission bomb test released the same amount...
s (cobalt
Cobalt
Cobalt is a chemical element with symbol Co and atomic number 27. It is found naturally only in chemically combined form. The free element, produced by reductive smelting, is a hard, lustrous, silver-gray metal....
is another, better-known salting material). A jacket of isotopically enriched
Isotope separation
Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes, for example separating natural uranium into enriched uranium and depleted uranium. This is a crucial process in the manufacture of uranium fuel for nuclear power stations, and is...
64Zn, irradiated by the intense high-energy neutron flux from an exploding thermonuclear weapon, would transmute into the radioactive isotope 65Zn with a half-life of 244 days and produce approximately 1.115 MeV
MEV
MeV and meV are multiples and submultiples of the electron volt unit referring to 1,000,000 eV and 0.001 eV, respectively.Mev or MEV may refer to:In entertainment:* Musica Elettronica Viva, an Italian musical group...
of gamma radiation
Gamma ray
Gamma radiation, also known as gamma rays or hyphenated as gamma-rays and denoted as γ, is electromagnetic radiation of high frequency . Gamma rays are usually naturally produced on Earth by decay of high energy states in atomic nuclei...
, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the weapon's fallout
Nuclear fallout
Fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and shock wave have passed. It commonly refers to the radioactive dust and ash created when a nuclear weapon explodes...
for several days. Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used.
Standard atomic mass: 65.409(4) u
Table
| nuclide symbol |
Z(p Proton The proton is a subatomic particle with the symbol or and a positive electric charge of 1 elementary charge. One or more protons are present in the nucleus of each atom, along with neutrons. The number of protons in each atom is its atomic number.... ) |
N(n Neutron The neutron is a subatomic hadron particle which has the symbol or , no net electric charge and a mass slightly larger than that of a proton. With the exception of hydrogen, nuclei of atoms consist of protons and neutrons, which are therefore collectively referred to as nucleons. The number of... ) |
isotopic mass (u) |
half-life | decay mode(s)Abbreviations: IT: Isomeric transition Isomeric transition An isomeric transition is a radioactive decay process that involves emission of a gamma ray from an atom where the nucleus is in an excited metastable state, referred to in its excited state, as a nuclear isomer.... |
daughter isotope(s)Bold for stable isotopes |
nuclear spin |
representative isotopic composition (mole fraction) |
range of natural variation (mole fraction) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| excitation energy | |||||||||
| 54Zn | 30 | 24 | 53.99295(43)# | 2p Proton emission Proton emission is a type of radioactive decay in which a proton is ejected from a nucleus. Proton emission can occur from high-lying excited states in a nucleus following a beta decay, in which case the process is known as beta-delayed proton emission, or can occur from the ground state of very... |
52Ni | 0+ | |||
| 55Zn | 30 | 25 | 54.98398(27)# | 20# ms [>1.6 µs] | 2p | 53Ni | 5/2-# | ||
| β+ Beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay is a type of radioactive decay in which a beta particle is emitted from an atom. There are two types of beta decay: beta minus and beta plus. In the case of beta decay that produces an electron emission, it is referred to as beta minus , while in the case of a... |
55Cu | ||||||||
| 56Zn | 30 | 26 | 55.97238(28)# | 36(10) ms | β+ | 56Cu | 0+ | ||
| 57Zn | 30 | 27 | 56.96479(11)# | 38(4) ms | β+, p (65%) | 56Ni | 7/2-# | ||
| β+ (35%) | 57Cu | ||||||||
| 58Zn | 30 | 28 | 57.95459(5) | 84(9) ms | β+, p (60%) | 57Ni | 0+ | ||
| β+ (40%) | 58Cu | ||||||||
| 59Zn | 30 | 29 | 58.94926(4) | 182.0(18) ms | β+ (99%) | 59Cu | 3/2- | ||
| β+, p (1%) | 58Ni | ||||||||
| 60Zn | 30 | 30 | 59.941827(11) | 2.38(5) min | β+ | 60Cu | 0+ | ||
| 61Zn | 30 | 31 | 60.939511(17) | 89.1(2) s | β+ | 61Cu | 3/2- | ||
| 61m1Zn | 88.4(1) keV | <430 ms | 1/2- | ||||||
| 61m2Zn | 418.10(15) keV | 140(70) ms | 3/2- | ||||||
| 61m3Zn | 756.02(18) keV | <130 ms | 5/2- | ||||||
| 62Zn | 30 | 32 | 61.934330(11) | 9.186(13) h | β+ | 62Cu | 0+ | ||
| 63Zn | 30 | 33 | 62.9332116(17) | 38.47(5) min | β+ | 63Cu | 3/2- | ||
| 64Zn | 30 | 34 | 63.9291422(7) | Observationally StableBelieved to undergo β+β+ decay to 64Ni with a half-life over 2.3×1018 a | 0+ | 0.48268(321) | |||
| 65Zn | 30 | 35 | 64.9292410(7) | 243.66(9) d | β+ | 65Cu | 5/2- | ||
| 65mZn | 53.928(10) keV | 1.6(6) µs | (1/2)- | ||||||
| 66Zn | 30 | 36 | 65.9260334(10) | Stable | 0+ | 0.27975(77) | |||
| 67Zn | 30 | 37 | 66.9271273(10) | Stable | 5/2- | 0.04102(21) | |||
| 68Zn | 30 | 38 | 67.9248442(10) | Stable | 0+ | 0.19024(123) | |||
| 69Zn | 30 | 39 | 68.9265503(10) | 56.4(9) min | β- | 69Ga | 1/2- | ||
| 69mZn | 438.636(18) keV | 13.76(2) h | IT Isomeric transition An isomeric transition is a radioactive decay process that involves emission of a gamma ray from an atom where the nucleus is in an excited metastable state, referred to in its excited state, as a nuclear isomer.... (96.7%) |
69Zn | 9/2+ | ||||
| β- (3.3%) | 69Ga | ||||||||
| 70Zn | 30 | 40 | 69.9253193(21) | Observationally StableBelieved to undergo β-β- decay to 70Ge with a half-life over 1.3×1016 a | 0+ | 0.00631(9) | |||
| 71Zn | 30 | 41 | 70.927722(11) | 2.45(10) min | β- | 71Ga | 1/2- | ||
| 71mZn | 157.7(13) keV | 3.96(5) h | β- (99.95%) | 71Ga | 9/2+ | ||||
| IT (.05%) | 71Zn | ||||||||
| 72Zn | 30 | 42 | 71.926858(7) | 46.5(1) h | β- | 72Ga | 0+ | ||
| 73Zn | 30 | 43 | 72.92978(4) | 23.5(10) s | β- | 73Ga | (1/2)- | ||
| 73m1Zn | 195.5(2) keV | 13.0(2) ms | (5/2+) | ||||||
| 73m2Zn | 237.6(20) keV | 5.8(8) s | β- | 73Ga | (7/2+) | ||||
| IT | 73Zn | ||||||||
| 74Zn | 30 | 44 | 73.92946(5) | 95.6(12) s | β- | 74Ga | 0+ | ||
| 75Zn | 30 | 45 | 74.93294(8) | 10.2(2) s | β- | 75Ga | (7/2+)# | ||
| 76Zn | 30 | 46 | 75.93329(9) | 5.7(3) s | β- | 76Ga | 0+ | ||
| 77Zn | 30 | 47 | 76.93696(13) | 2.08(5) s | β- | 77Ga | (7/2+)# | ||
| 77mZn | 772.39(12) keV | 1.05(10) s | IT (50%) | 77Zn | 1/2-# | ||||
| β- (50%) | 77Ga | ||||||||
| 78Zn | 30 | 48 | 77.93844(10) | 1.47(15) s | β- | 78Ga | 0+ | ||
| 78mZn | 2673(1) keV | 319(9) ns | (8+) | ||||||
| 79Zn | 30 | 49 | 78.94265(28)# | 0.995(19) s | β- (98.7%) | 79Ga | (9/2+) | ||
| β-, n Neutron emission Neutron emission is a type of radioactive decay of atoms containing excess neutrons, in which a neutron is simply ejected from the nucleus. Two examples of isotopes which emit neutrons are helium-5 and beryllium-13... (1.3%) |
78Ga | ||||||||
| 80Zn | 30 | 50 | 79.94434(18) | 545(16) ms | β- (99%) | 80Ga | 0+ | ||
| β-, n (1%) | 79Ga | ||||||||
| 81Zn | 30 | 51 | 80.95048(32)# | 290(50) ms | β- (92.5%) | 81Ga | 5/2+# | ||
| β-, n (7.5%) | 81Ga | ||||||||
| 82Zn | 30 | 52 | 81.95442(54)# | 100# ms [>300 ns] | β- | 82Ga | 0+ | ||
| 83Zn | 30 | 53 | 82.96103(54)# | 80# ms [>300 ns] | 5/2+# | ||||