Erbium-166

Isotopes of erbium

Isotopes of erbium

Nuclides with atomic number of 68 but with different mass numbers


Naturally occurring erbium (68Er) is composed of 6 stable isotopes, with 166Er being the most abundant (33.503% natural abundance). 39 radioisotopes have been characterized with between 74 and 112 neutrons, or 142 to 180 nucleons, with the most stable being 169Er with a half-life of 9.4 days, 172Er with a half-life of 49.3 hours, 160Er with a half-life of 28.58 hours, 165Er with a half-life of 10.36 hours, and 171Er with a half-life of 7.516 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 3.5 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 4 minutes. This element also has numerous meta states, with the most stable being 167mEr (t1/2 2.269 seconds).

Quick Facts Main isotopes, Decay ...

The isotopes of erbium range in atomic weight from 141.9723 u (142Er) to 176.9541 u (177Er). The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, 166Er, is electron capture, and the primary mode after is beta decay. The primary decay products before 166Er are holmium isotopes, and the primary products after are thulium isotopes. All isotopes of erbium are either radioactive or observationally stable, meaning that they are predicted to be radioactive but no actual decay has been observed.

List of isotopes

More information Nuclide, Z ...
  1. mEr  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. #  Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
  5. Bold symbol as daughter  Daughter product is stable.
  6. () spin value  Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
  7. Believed to undergo α decay to 158Dy or β+β+ to 162Dy with a half-life over 140×1012 years
  8. Believed to undergo α decay to 160Dy or β+β+ to 164Dy
  9. Believed to undergo α decay to 162Dy
  10. Believed to undergo α decay to 163Dy
  11. Believed to undergo α decay to 164Dy
  12. Believed to undergo α decay to 166Dy or ββ to 170Yb with a half-life over 410×1015 years

Erbium-169

The radioactive isotope erbium-169 is sometimes used in radiopharmaceuticals.


References

  1. 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. 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.

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