Isotopes of zinc

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Main isotopes of zinc  (30Zn)
Iso­tope Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
64Zn49.2% stable
65Zn syn 244 d ε 65Cu
γ
66Zn27.7%stable
67Zn4.0%stable
68Zn18.5%stable
69Znsyn56 min β 69Ga
69m Znsyn13.8 hβ69Ga
70Zn0.6%stable
71Znsyn2.4 minβ 71Ga
71mZnsyn4 hβ71Ga
72Znsyn46.5 hβ 72Ga
Standard atomic weight Ar, standard(Zn)65.38(2) [1] [2]

Naturally occurring zinc (30Zn) is composed of the 5 stable isotopes 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.

Contents

Zinc has been proposed as a "salting" material for nuclear weapons. 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 [3] of gamma radiation, significantly increasing the radioactivity of the weapon's fallout for several years. Such a weapon is not known to have ever been built, tested, or used. [4]

List of isotopes

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

[n 5]
Daughter
isotope

[n 6]
Spin and
parity
[n 7] [n 4]
Natural abundance (mole fraction)
Excitation energyNormal proportionRange of variation
54Zn302453.99295(43)#1.59 ms 2p 52Ni0+
55Zn302554.98398(27)#20# ms [>1.6 μs]2p53Ni5/2−#
β+ 55Cu
56Zn302655.97238(28)#36(10) msβ+56Cu0+
57Zn302756.96479(11)#38(4) msβ+, p (65%)56Ni7/2−#
β+ (35%)57Cu
58Zn302857.95459(5)84(9) msβ+, p (60%)57Ni0+
β+ (40%)58Cu
59Zn302958.94926(4)182.0(18) msβ+ (99%)59Cu3/2−
β+, p (1%)58Ni
60Zn [n 8] 303059.941827(11)2.38(5) minβ+60Cu0+
61Zn303160.939511(17)89.1(2) sβ+61Cu3/2−
61m1Zn88.4(1) keV<430 ms1/2−
61m2Zn418.10(15) keV140(70) ms3/2−
61m3Zn756.02(18) keV<130 ms5/2−
62Zn303261.934330(11)9.186(13) hβ+62Cu0+
63Zn303362.9332116(17)38.47(5) minβ+63Cu3/2−
64Zn303463.9291422(7) Observationally Stable [n 9] 0+0.4917(75)
65Zn303564.9292410(7)243.66(9) dβ+65Cu5/2−
65mZn53.928(10) keV1.6(6) μs(1/2)−
66Zn303665.9260334(10)Stable0+0.2773(98)
67Zn303766.9271273(10)Stable5/2−0.0404(16)
68Zn303867.9248442(10)Stable0+0.1845(63)
69Zn303968.9265503(10)56.4(9) minβ69Ga1/2−
69mZn438.636(18) keV13.76(2) h IT (96.7%)69Zn9/2+
β (3.3%)69Ga
70Zn304069.9253193(21)Observationally Stable [n 10] 0+0.0061(10)
71Zn304170.927722(11)2.45(10) minβ71Ga1/2−
71mZn157.7(13) keV3.96(5) hβ (99.95%)71Ga9/2+
IT (.05%)71Zn
72Zn304271.926858(7)46.5(1) hβ72Ga0+
73Zn304372.92978(4)23.5(10) sβ73Ga(1/2)−
73m1Zn195.5(2) keV13.0(2) ms(5/2+)
73m2Zn237.6(20) keV5.8(8) sβ73Ga(7/2+)
IT73Zn
74Zn304473.92946(5)95.6(12) sβ74Ga0+
75Zn304574.93294(8)10.2(2) sβ75Ga(7/2+)#
76Zn304675.93329(9)5.7(3) sβ76Ga0+
77Zn304776.93696(13)2.08(5) sβ77Ga(7/2+)#
77mZn772.39(12) keV1.05(10) sIT (50%)77Zn1/2−#
β (50%)77Ga
78Zn304877.93844(10)1.47(15) sβ78Ga0+
78mZn2673(1) keV319(9) ns(8+)
79Zn304978.94265(28)#0.995(19) sβ (98.7%)79Ga(9/2+)
β, n (1.3%)78Ga
80Zn305079.94434(18)545(16) msβ (99%)80Ga0+
β, n (1%)79Ga
81Zn305180.95048(32)#290(50) msβ (92.5%)81Ga5/2+#
β, n (7.5%)80Ga
82Zn305281.95442(54)#100# ms [>300 ns]β82Ga0+
83Zn305382.96103(54)#80# ms [>300 ns]5/2+#
This table header & footer:
  1. mZn  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. Final product of the silicon-burning process; its production is endothermic and accelerates the star's collapse
  9. Believed to undergo β+β+ decay to 64Ni with a half-life over 2.3×1018 a
  10. Believed to undergo ββ decay to 70Ge with a half-life over 1.3×1016 a

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References

  1. "Standard Atomic Weights: Zinc". CIAAW. 2007.
  2. Meija, Juris; et al. (2016). "Atomic weights of the elements 2013 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry . 88 (3): 265–91. doi: 10.1515/pac-2015-0305 .
  3. Roost, E.; Funck, E.; Spernol, A.; Vaninbroukx, R. (1972). "The decay of 65Zn". Zeitschrift für Physik. 250 (5): 395–412. Bibcode:1972ZPhy..250..395D. doi:10.1007/BF01379752.
  4. D. T. Win, M. Al Masum (2003). "Weapons of Mass Destruction" (PDF). Assumption University Journal of Technology . 6 (4): 199–219.