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Thus, for high-energy neutrons, beryllium is a neutron multiplier, releasing more neutrons than it absorbs. This nuclear reaction is: [16] 9 4 Be + n → 2 4 2 He + 2 n. Neutrons are liberated when beryllium nuclei are struck by energetic alpha particles [15] producing the nuclear reaction 9 4 Be + 4 2 He → 12 6 C + n. where 4 2 He is an ...
Beryllium is unique as being the only monoisotopic element with both an even number of protons and an odd number of neutrons. There are 25 other monoisotopic elements but all have odd atomic numbers, and even numbers of neutrons. Of the 10 radioisotopes of beryllium, the most stable are 10 Be with a half-life of 1.387(12) million years [nb 1 ...
Beryllium-8 is the only unstable nuclide with the same even number ≤ 20 of protons and neutrons. It is also one of the only two unstable nuclides (the other is helium-5) with mass number ≤ 143 which are stable to both beta decay and double beta decay.
Since a nucleus with an odd number of protons is relatively less stable, odd-numbered elements tend to have fewer stable isotopes. Of the 26 "monoisotopic" elements that have only a single stable isotope, all but one have an odd atomic number—the single exception being beryllium. In addition, no odd-numbered element has more than two stable ...
No odd-neutron-number isotope is the most naturally abundant isotope in its element, except for beryllium-9 (which is the only stable beryllium isotope), nitrogen-14, and platinum-195. No stable nuclides have a neutron number of 19, 21, 35, 39, 45, 61, 89, 115, 123, or ≥ 127.
Those with mass 5 decay to helium-4 and a proton or a neutron, and those with mass 8 decay to two helium-4 nuclei; their half-lives (helium-5, lithium-5, and beryllium-8) are very short, unlike the half-lives for all other such nuclides with A ≤ 209, which are very long.
For other isotopes, the isotopic mass is usually within 0.1 u of the mass number. For example, 35 Cl (17 protons and 18 neutrons) has a mass number of 35 and an isotopic mass of 34.96885. [7] The difference of the actual isotopic mass minus the mass number of an atom is known as the mass excess, [8] which for 35 Cl is –0.03115.
Two examples of isotopes that emit neutrons are beryllium-13 (decaying to beryllium-12 with a mean life 2.7 × 10 −21 s) and helium-5 (helium-4, 7 × 10 −22 s). [ 1 ] In tables of nuclear decay modes, neutron emission is commonly denoted by the abbreviation n .