Isotopes of magnesium

Isotopes of magnesium (₁₂Mg)

Main isotopes Decay abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct 24Mg 79% stable 25Mg 10% stable 26Mg 11% stable
Standard atomic weight Ar°(Mg)
	[24.304, 24.307] 24.305±0.002 (abridged)

Magnesium (₁₂Mg) naturally occurs in three stable isotopes, ²⁴Mg, ²⁵Mg, and ²⁶Mg. There are 19 radioisotopes that have been discovered, ranging from ¹⁹Mg to ⁴⁰Mg. The longest-lived radioisotope is ²⁸Mg with a half-life of 20.915 hours. The lighter isotopes mostly decay to isotopes of sodium while the heavier isotopes decay to isotopes of aluminium. The shortest-lived is ¹⁹Mg with a half-life of 4 picoseconds.

A chart showing the abundances of the naturally occurring isotopes of magnesium.

List of isotopes

nuclide symbol	Z(p)	N(n)	isotopic mass (u)	half-life	decay mode(s)	daughter isotope(s)	nuclear spin and parity	representative isotopic composition (mole fraction)	range of natural variation (mole fraction)
19Mg	12	7	19.03547(27)	4×10−12 s	2p	17Ne	1/2−#
20Mg	12	8	20.018863(29)	90.8(24) ms	β+ (97%)	20Na	0+
					β+, p (3%)	19Ne
21Mg	12	9	21.011713(18)	122(2) ms	β+ (66.9%)	21Na	(5/2,3/2)+
					β+, p (32.6%)	20Ne
					β+, α (0.5%)	17F
22Mg	12	10	21.9995738(14)	3.8755(12) s	β+	22Na	0+
23Mg	12	11	22.9941237(14)	11.317(11) s	β+	23Na	3/2+
24Mg	12	12	23.985041700(14)	Stable			0+	0.7899(4)	0.78958–0.79017
25Mg	12	13	24.98583692(3)	Stable			5/2+	0.1000(1)	0.09996–0.10012
26Mg	12	14	25.982592929(30)	Stable			0+	0.1101(3)	0.10987–0.11030
27Mg	12	15	26.98434059(5)	9.458(12) min	β−	27Al	1/2+
28Mg	12	16	27.9838768(22)	20.915(9) h	β−	28Al	0+
29Mg	12	17	28.988600(15)	1.30(12) s	β−	29Al	3/2+
30Mg	12	18	29.990434(9)	335(17) ms	β− (99.94%)	30Al	0+
					β−, n (.06%)	29Al
31Mg	12	19	30.996546(13)	230(20) ms	β− (98.3%)	31Al	1/2+
					β−, n (1.7%)	30Al
32Mg	12	20	31.998975(19)	86(5) ms	β− (97.6%)	32Al	0+
					β−, n (2.4%)	31Al
33Mg	12	21	33.005254(21)	90.5(16) ms	β− (83%)	33Al	3/2−
					β−, n (17%)	32Al
34Mg	12	22	34.00946(25)	20(10) ms	β− (>99.9%)	34Al	0+
					β−, n (<.1%)	33Al
35Mg	12	23	35.01734(43)#	70(40) ms	β−, n (52%)	34Al	(7/2−)#
					β− (48%)	35Al
36Mg	12	24	36.02300(54)#	3.9(13) ms	β−	36Al	0+
37Mg	12	25	37.03140(97)#	40# ms [>260 ns]	β−	37Al	7/2−#
					β−, n	36Al
38Mg	12	26	38.03757(54)#	1# ms [>260 ns]			0+
39Mg	12	27	39.04677(55)#	<260 ns			7/2−#
40Mg	12	28	40.05393(97)#	1# ms			0+

Notes

• 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

• 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. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
• 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. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |laysummary= ignored (help)
• 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. {{cite journal}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help)
  • National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.1 database". Brookhaven National Laboratory. Retrieved September 2005. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  • N. E. Holden (2004). "Table of the Isotopes". In D. R. Lide (ed.). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). CRC Press. Section 11. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |nopp= ignored (|no-pp= suggested) (help)

External links

• Magnesium isotopes data from The Berkeley Laboratory Isotopes Project's