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Isotopes of radon



There are thirty four known isotopes of Radon (Rn). The most stable isotope is 222Rn, which is a decay product (daughter product) of 226Ra, has a half-life of 3.823 days and emits alpha particles. 220Rn is a natural decay product of thorium and is called “thoron.” It has a half-life of 55.6 seconds and also emits alpha radiation. 219Rn is derived from actinium, is called “actinon,” is an alpha emitter and has a half-life of 3.96 seconds.

Contents

Decay chain

The full decay series of 238U which produces natural radon is as follows (with half-lives):

238U (4.5 x 109 yr), 234Th (24.1 days), 234Pa (1.18 min), 234U (2.457 x 105 yr), 230Th (75,000 yr), 226Ra (1,600 yr), 222Rn (3.82 days), 218Po (3.1 min), 214Pb (26.8 min), 214Bi (19.7 min), 214Po (164 µs), 210Pb (22.3 yr), 210Bi (5.01 days), 210Po (138 days), 206Pb (stable).

Older nomenclature

Isotopes of radon occurring within the radioactive disintegration chains of actinium, radium and thorium were known as:

  • actinon or actinium emanation : 219Rn
  • thoron or thorium emanation : 220Rn
  • radon or radium emanation, emanation, emanon, or niton : 222Rn

Table

nuclide
symbol
Z(p) N(n)  
isotopic mass (u)
 
half-life nuclear
spin
representative
isotopic
composition
(mole fraction)
range of natural
variation
(mole fraction)
excitation energy
195Rn 86 109 195.00544(5) 6 ms 3/2-#
195mRn 50(50) keV 6 ms 13/2+#
196Rn 86 110 196.002115(16) 4.7(11) ms [4.4(+13-9) ms] 0+
197Rn 86 111 197.00158(7) 66(16) ms [65(+25-14) ms] 3/2-#
197mRn 200(60)# keV 21(5) ms [19(+8-4) ms] (13/2+)
198Rn 86 112 197.998679(14) 65(3) ms 0+
199Rn 86 113 198.99837(7) 620(30) ms 3/2-#
199mRn 180(70) keV 320(20) ms 13/2+#
200Rn 86 114 199.995699(14) 0.96(3) s 0+
201Rn 86 115 200.99563(8) 7.0(4) s (3/2-)
201mRn 280(90)# keV 3.8(1) s (13/2+)
202Rn 86 116 201.993263(19) 9.94(18) s 0+
203Rn 86 117 202.993387(25) 44.2(16) s (3/2-)
203mRn 363(4) keV 26.7(5) s 13/2(+)
204Rn 86 118 203.991429(16) 1.17(18) min 0+
205Rn 86 119 204.99172(5) 170(4) s 5/2-
206Rn 86 120 205.990214(16) 5.67(17) min 0+
207Rn 86 121 206.990734(28) 9.25(17) min 5/2-
207mRn 899.0(10) keV 181(18) µs (13/2+)
208Rn 86 122 207.989642(12) 24.35(14) min 0+
209Rn 86 123 208.990415(21) 28.5(10) min 5/2-
209m1Rn 1173.98(13) keV 13.4(13) µs 13/2+
209m2Rn 3636.78(23) keV 3.0(3) µs (35/2+)
210Rn 86 124 209.989696(9) 2.4(1) h 0+
210m1Rn 1690(15) keV 644(40) ns 8+#
210m2Rn 3837(15) keV 1.06(5) µs (17)-
210m3Rn 6493(15) keV 1.04(7) µs (22)+
211Rn 86 125 210.990601(7) 14.6(2) h 1/2-
212Rn 86 126 211.990704(3) 23.9(12) min 0+
213Rn 86 127 212.993883(6) 19.5(1) ms (9/2+)
214Rn 86 128 213.995363(10) 0.27(2) µs 0+
214mRn 4595.4 keV 245(30) ns (22+)
215Rn 86 129 214.998745(8) 2.30(10) µs 9/2+
216Rn 86 130 216.000274(8) 45(5) µs 0+
217Rn 86 131 217.003928(5) 0.54(5) ms 9/2+
218Rn 86 132 218.0056013(25) 35(5) ms 0+
219Rn 86 133 219.0094802(27) 3.96(1) s 5/2+
220Rn 86 134 220.0113940(24) 55.6(1) s 0+
221Rn 86 135 221.015537(6) 25.7(5) min 7/2(+)
222Rn 86 136 222.0175777(25) 3.8235(3) d 0+
223Rn 86 137 223.02179(32)# 24.3(4) min 7/2
224Rn 86 138 224.02409(32)# 107(3) min 0+
225Rn 86 139 225.02844(32)# 4.66(4) min 7/2-
226Rn 86 140 226.03089(43)# 7.4(1) min 0+
227Rn 86 141 227.03541(45)# 20.8(7) s 5/2(+#)
228Rn 86 142 228.03799(44)# 65(2) s 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 Ame2003 Atomic Mass Evaluation by G. Audi, A.H. Wapstra, C. Thibault, J. Blachot and O. Bersillon in Nuclear Physics A729 (2003).
  • Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from Atomic weights of the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report). Pure Appl. Chem. Vol. 75, No. 6, pp. 683-800, (2003) and Atomic Weights Revised (2005).
  • Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from these sources. Editing notes on this article's talk page.
    • Audi, Bersillon, Blachot, Wapstra. The Nubase2003 evaluation of nuclear and decay properties, Nuc. Phys. A 729, pp. 3-128 (2003).
    • National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory. Information extracted from the NuDat 2.1 database (retrieved Sept. 2005).
    • David R. Lide (ed.), Norman E. Holden in CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 85th Edition, online version. CRC Press. Boca Raton, Florida (2005). Section 11, Table of the Isotopes.


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Index to isotope pages
 
This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Isotopes_of_radon". A list of authors is available in Wikipedia.
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