Isotopes of scandium

Last updated
Isotopes of scandium  (21Sc)
Main isotopes [1] Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
44Sc synth 4.0421 h ε 44Ca
44m3Scsynth58.61 h IT 44Sc
γ 44Sc
ε44Ca
45Sc100% stable
46Scsynth83.757 d β 46Ti
γ
47Scsynth3.3492 dβ 47Ti
γ
48Scsynth43.67 hβ 48Ti
γ
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Sc)

Naturally occurring scandium (21Sc) is composed of one stable isotope, 45Sc. Twenty-seven radioisotopes have been characterized, with the most stable being 46Sc with a half-life of 83.8 days, 47Sc with a half-life of 3.35 days, and 48Sc with a half-life of 43.7 hours and 44Sc with a half-life of 3.97 hours. All the remaining isotopes have half-lives that are less than four hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than two minutes, the least stable being proton unbound 39Sc with a half-life shorter than 300 nanoseconds. This element also has 13 meta states with the most stable being 44m2Sc (t1/2 58.6 h).

The isotopes of scandium range from 37Sc to 62Sc. The primary decay mode at masses lower than the only stable isotope, 45Sc, is beta-plus or electron capture, and the primary mode at masses above it is beta-minus. The primary decay products at atomic weights below 45Sc are calcium isotopes and the primary products from higher atomic weights are titanium isotopes.

List of isotopes


Nuclide
[n 1]
Z N Isotopic mass (Da) [4]
[n 2] [n 3]
Half-life [1]
[n 4]
Decay
mode
[1]
[n 5]
Daughter
isotope

[n 6]
Spin and
parity [1]
[n 7] [n 4]
Isotopic
abundance
Excitation energy
37Sc [5] 211637.00376(44)p36Ca
38Sc [5] 211737.995002(15)p37Ca
39Sc211838.984785(26)p38Ca7/2−#
40Sc211939.9779673(30)182.3(7) ms β+ (99.54%)40Ca4−
β+, p (0.44%)39K
β+, α (0.017%)36Ar
41Sc212040.969251163(83)596.3(17) msβ+41Ca7/2−
42Sc212141.96551669(17)680.72(26) msβ+42Ca0+
42mSc616.81(6) keV61.7(4) sβ+42Ca7+
43Sc212242.9611504(20)3.891(12) hβ+43Ca7/2−
43m1Sc151.79(8) keV438(5) μs IT 43Sc3/2+
43m2Sc3123.73(15) keV472(3) nsIT43Sc19/2−
44Sc 212343.9594028(19)4.0421(25) hβ+44Ca2+
44m1Sc67.8679(14) keV154.8(8) nsIT44Sc1−
44m2Sc146.1914(20) keV51.0(3) μsIT44Sc0−
44m3Sc271.240(10) keV58.61(10) hIT (98.80%)44Sc6+
β+ (1.20%)44Ca
45Sc212444.95590705(71)Stable7/2−1.0000
45mSc12.40(5) keV318(7) msIT45Sc3/2+
46Sc212545.95516703(72)83.757(14) dβ46Ti4+
46m1Sc52.011(1) keV9.4(8) μsIT46Sc6+
46m2Sc142.528(7) keV18.75(4) sIT46Sc1−
47Sc212646.9524024(21)3.3492(6) dβ47Ti7/2−
47mSc766.83(9) keV272(8) nsIT47Sc(3/2)+
48Sc212747.9522229(53)43.67(9) hβ48Ti6+
49Sc212848.9500132(24)57.18(13) minβ49Ti7/2−
50Sc212949.9521874(27)102.5(5) sβ50Ti5+
50mSc256.895(10) keV350(40) msIT (>99%)50Sc2+
β (<1%)50Ti
51Sc213050.9535688(27)12.4(1) sβ51Ti(7/2)−
β, n?50Ti
52Sc213151.9564962(33)8.2(2) sβ52Ti3(+)
β, n?51Ti
53Sc213252.958379(19)2.4(6) sβ53Ti(7/2−)
β, n?52Ti
54Sc213353.963029(15)526(15) msβ (84%)54Ti(3)+
β, n (16%)53Ti
54mSc110.5(3) keV2.77(2) μsIT54Sc(5+,4+)
55Sc213454.966890(67)96(2) msβ (83%)55Ti(7/2)−
β, n (17%)54Ti
β, 2n?53Ti
56Sc213555.97261(28)26(6) msβ56Ti(1+)
β, n?55Ti
β, 2n?54Ti
56m1Sc [n 8] 0(100)# keV75(6) msβ (<88%)56Ti(6+,5+)
β, n (>12%)55Ti
β, 2n?54Ti
56m2Sc775.0(1) keV290(17) nsIT56Sc(4+)
57Sc213656.97705(19)22(2) msβ57Ti7/2−#
β, n?56Ti
β, 2n?55Ti
58Sc213757.98338(20)12(5) msβ58Ti3+#
β, n?57Ti
β, 2n?56Ti
58mSc1420.7(22) keV0.60(13) μsIT58Sc
59Sc213858.98837(27)12# ms
[>620 ns]
β?59Ti7/2−#
β, n?58Ti
β, 2n?57Ti
60Sc213959.99512(54)#10# ms
[>620 ns]
β?60Ti3+#
β, n?59Ti
β, 2n?58Ti
61Sc214061.00054(64)#7# ms
[>620 ns]
β?61Ti7/2-#
β, n?60Ti
β, 2n?59Ti
62Sc214162.00785(64)#2# ms
[>400 ns]
β?62Ti
β, n?61Ti
β, 2n?60Ti
This table header & footer:
  1. mSc  Excited nuclear isomer.
  2. ()  Uncertainty (1σ) is given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits.
  3. #  Atomic mass marked #: value and uncertainty derived not from purely experimental data, but at least partly from trends from the Mass Surface (TMS).
  4. 1 2 #  Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
  5. Modes of decay:
    IT: Isomeric transition
    n: Neutron emission
    p: Proton emission
  6. Bold symbol as daughter  Daughter product is stable.
  7. () spin value  Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
  8. Order of ground state and isomer is uncertain.

References

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  2. "Standard Atomic Weights: Scandium". CIAAW. 2021.
  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. 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.
  5. 1 2 Dronchi, N.; Charity, R. J.; Sobotka, L. G.; Brown, B. A.; Weisshaar, D.; Gade, A.; Brown, K. W.; Reviol, W.; Bazin, D.; Farris, P. J.; Hill, A. M.; Li, J.; Longfellow, B.; Rhodes, D.; Paneru, S. N.; Gillespie, S. A.; Anthony, A. K.; Rubino, E.; Biswas, S. (2024-09-12). "Evolution of shell gaps in the neutron-poor calcium region from invariant-mass spectroscopy of 37,38Sc, 35Ca, and 34K". Physical Review C. 110 (3). doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.110.L031302. ISSN   2469-9985.