Isotopes of lead

Lead (₈₂Pb) has four stable isotopes: ²⁰⁴Pb, ²⁰⁶Pb, ²⁰⁷Pb, ²⁰⁸Pb. Lead-204 is entirely a primordial nuclide and is not a radiogenic nuclide. The three isotopes lead-206, lead-207, and lead-208 represent the ends of three decay chains: the uranium series (or radium series), the actinium series, and the thorium series, respectively. These series represent the decay chain products of long-lived primordial U-238, U-235, and Th-232, respectively. However, each of them also occurs, to some extent, as primordial isotopes that were made in supernovae, rather than radiogenically as daughter products. The fixed ratio of lead-204 to the primordial amounts of the other lead isotopes may be used as the baseline to estimate the extra amounts of radiogenic lead present in rocks as a result of decay from uranium and thorium. (See lead-lead dating and uranium-lead dating).

The longest-lived radioisotopes are ²⁰⁵Pb with a half-life of ≈15.3 million years and ²⁰²Pb with a half-life of ≈53,000 years. Of naturally occurring radioisotopes, the longest half-life is 22.3 years for ²¹⁰Pb, which is useful for studying the sedimentation chronology of environmental samples on time scales shorter than 100 years.^[2]

The relative abundances of the four stable isotopes are approximately 1.5%, 24%, 22%, and 52.5%, combining to give a standard atomic weight (abundance-weighted average of the stable isotopes) of 207.2(1). Lead is the element with the heaviest stable isotope, ²⁰⁸Pb. (The more massive ²⁰⁹Bi, long considered to be stable, actually has a half-life of 1.9×10¹⁹ years). A total of 38 Pb isotopes are now known, including very unstable synthetic species.

In its fully ionized state the isotope ²⁰⁵Pb also becomes stable.^[3]

Lead-206

²⁰⁶Pb is the final step in the decay chain of ²³⁸U, the "radium series" or "uranium series". In a closed system, over time, a given mass of ²³⁸U will decay in a sequence of steps culminating in ²⁰⁶Pb. The production of intermediate products eventually reaches an equilibrium (though this takes a long time, as the half-life of ²³⁴U is 245,500 years). Once this stabilized system is reached, the ratio of ²³⁸U to ²⁰⁶Pb will steadily decrease, while the ratios of the other intermediate products to each other remain constant.

Like most radioisotopes found in the radium series, ²⁰⁶Pb was initially named as a variation of radium, specifically radium G. It is the decay product of both ²¹⁰Po (historically called radium F) by alpha decay, and the much rarer ²⁰⁶Tl (radium E^II) by beta decay.

Lead-207, -208, and -204

²⁰⁷Pb is the end of the Actinium series from ²³⁵U.

²⁰⁸Pb is the end of the Thorium series from ²³²Th. It is notable for its unusually low neutron capture cross section (even lower than that of deuterium in the thermal spectrum), making it of interest for lead-cooled fast reactors. While it only makes up approximately half of the composition of lead in most places on Earth, it can be found naturally enriched up to around 90% in thorium ores.^[4] It is notable as the heaviest known stable isotope of any element.

²⁰⁴Pb is entirely primordial, and is thus useful for estimating the fraction of the other lead isotopes in a given sample that are also primordial (since the relative fractions of the various primordial lead isotopes is constant everywhere). Any excess lead 206, 207, and 208 is thus assumed to be radiogenic in origin, allowing various uranium and thorium dating schemes to be used to estimate the age of rocks (time since their formation).

List of isotopes

1. ↑ Abbreviations:
   EC: Electron capture
   IT: Isomeric transition
2. ↑ Bold for stable isotopes, bold italics for nearly-stable isotopes (half-life longer than the age of the universe)
3. 1 2 3 Used in lead-lead dating
4. ↑ Believed to undergo α decay to ²⁰⁰Hg with a half-life over 1.4×10²⁰ years
5. ↑ Final decay product of 4n+2 decay chain (the Radium or Uranium series)
6. ↑ Believed to undergo α decay to ²⁰²Hg with a half-life over 2.5×10²¹ years
7. ↑ Final decay product of 4n+3 decay chain (the Actinium series)
8. ↑ Believed to undergo α decay to ²⁰³Hg with a half-life over 1.9×10²¹ years
9. ↑ Final decay product of 4n decay chain (the Thorium series)
10. ↑ Heaviest observationally stable nuclide, believed to undergo α decay to ²⁰⁴Hg with a half-life over 2.6×10²¹ years
11. ↑ Cluster decay product of ²²³Ra, which occurs in the decay chain of ²³⁵U
12. 1 2 Intermediate decay product of ²³⁸U
13. ↑ Intermediate decay product of ²³⁵U
14. ↑ Intermediate decay product of ²³²Th

Notes

• Evaluated isotopic composition is for most but not all commercial samples.
• The precision of the isotope abundances and atomic mass is limited through variations. The given ranges should be applicable to any normal terrestrial material.
• 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.

References

1. ↑ Meija et al. 2016.
2. ↑ Determining the Ages of Recent Sediments Using Measurements of Trace Radioactivity H.W. Jeter, Terra et Aqua, 78, 21–28 (2000)
3. ↑ Takahashi, K; Boyd, R. N.; Mathews, G. J.; Yokoi, K. (October 1987). "Bound-state beta decay of highly ionized atoms" (PDF). Physical Review C. New York, NY: American Institute of Physics for the American Physical Society. 36 (4): 1522–1528. ISSN 0556-2813. OCLC 1639677. PMID 9954244. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.36.1522. Retrieved 2016-11-20. 
4. ↑ A. Yu. Smirnov; V. D. Borisevich; A. Sulaberidze (July 2012). "Evaluation of specific cost of obtainment of lead-208 isotope by gas centrifuges using various raw materials". Theoretical Foundations of Chemical Engineering. 46 (4): 373–378. 
5. ↑ "Universal Nuclide Chart". nucleonica. Retrieved 2013-08-28. (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.