Isotopes of barium

Naturally occurring barium (₅₆Ba) is a mix of six stable isotopes and one very long-lived radioactive primordial isotope, barium-130, recently identified as being unstable by geochemical means (from analysis of the presence of its daughter xenon-130 in rocks). This nuclide decays by double-electron capture (absorbing two electrons and emitting two neutrons); with a half-life of (0.5–2.7)×10²¹ years (about 10¹¹ times the age of the universe).

There are a total of thirty-three known radioisotopes in addition to ¹³⁰Ba, but most of these are highly radioactive with half-lives in the several millisecond to several minute range. The only notable exceptions are ¹³³Ba, which has a half-life of 10.51 years, ¹³¹Ba (11.5 days), and ^137mBa (2.55 minutes), which is the decay product of ¹³⁷Cs (30.17 years, and a common fission product).

Barium-114 is predicted to undergo cluster decay, emitting a nucleus of stable ¹²C to produce ¹⁰²Sn. However this decay is not yet observed; the upper limit on the branching ratio of such decay is 0.0034%.

List of isotopes

1. ↑ Bold for isotopes with half-lives longer than the age of the universe (nearly stable)
2. ↑ Abbreviations:
   CD: Cluster decay
   EC: Electron capture
   IT: Isomeric transition
3. ↑ Bold for stable isotopes, bold italics for nearly-stable isotopes (half-life longer than the age of the universe)
4. ↑ Cluster decay is predicted but had never been observed.
5. ↑ Primordial radioisotope
6. ↑ Believed to undergo β⁺β⁺ decay to ¹³²Xe with a half-life over 300×10¹⁸ years
7. 1 2 3 4 5 Theoretically capable of spontaneous fission
8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Fission product

Notes

• Geologically exceptional samples are known in which the isotopic composition lies outside the reported range. The uncertainty in the atomic mass may exceed the stated value for such specimens.
• Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses.
• Uncertainties are given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits. Uncertainty values denote one standard deviation, except isotopic composition and standard atomic mass from IUPAC, which use expanded uncertainties.

See also

References

1. ↑ Meija, J.; et al. (2016). "Atomic weights of the elements 2013 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure Appl. Chem. 88 (3): 265–91. doi:10.1515/pac-2015-0305. 
2. ↑ "Universal Nuclide Chart". nucleonica. (Registration required (help)). 

• Isotope masses from:
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-23. 
• Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from:
  • J. R. de Laeter; J. K. Böhlke; P. De Bièvre; H. Hidaka; H. S. Peiser; K. J. R. Rosman; P. D. P. Taylor (2003). "Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 75 (6): 683–800. doi:10.1351/pac200375060683. 
  • M. E. Wieser (2006). "Atomic weights of the elements 2005 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. 78 (11): 2051–2066. doi:10.1351/pac200678112051. Lay summary. 
• Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. See editing notes on this article's talk page.
  • G. Audi; A. H. Wapstra; C. Thibault; J. Blachot; O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" (PDF). Nuclear Physics A. 729: 3–128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A. doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2008-09-23. 
  • National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.1 database". Brookhaven National Laboratory. Retrieved September 2005.  Check date values in: |access-date= (help)
  • N. E. Holden (2004). "Table of the Isotopes". In D. R. Lide. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). CRC Press. Section 11. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9. 
• Half-life of ¹³⁰Ba from:
  • A. P. Meshik; C. M. Hohenberg; O. V. Pravdivtseva; Ya. S. Kapusta (2001). "Weak decay of ¹³⁰Ba and ¹³²Ba: Geochemical measurements". Physical Review C. 64 (3): 035205 [6 pages]. Bibcode:2001PhRvC..64c5205M. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.64.035205. 
  • M. Pujol; B. Marty; P. Burnard; P. Philippot (2009). "Xenon in Archean barite: Weak decay of ¹³⁰Ba, mass-dependent isotopic fractionation and implication for barite formation". Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta. 73 (22): 6834–6846. Bibcode:2009GeCoA..73.6834P. doi:10.1016/j.gca.2009.08.002.