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Isotopes of aluminium
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Aluminium or aluminum (13Al) has one stable isotope, 27Al, comprising all natural aluminium. The radioactive 26Al, with half-life 717,000 years, occurs in traces from cosmic-ray spallation of argon in the atmosphere.
Other than 26Al, there are 22 known synthetic radioisotopes from 20Al to 43Al, and 4 known metastable states; all have half-lives under 7 minutes, most under a second.
26Al is an extinct radionuclide and has received attention as such, being used in the study of meteorites. Its terrestrial occurrence has also found practical application in dating marine sediments, manganese nodules, glacial ice, quartz in rock exposures, and meteorites. The ratio of 26Al to 10Be has been used to study the role of sediment transport, deposition, and storage, as well as burial times, and erosion, on 105 to 106 year time scales.
List of isotopes
Aluminium-23m
|-id=Aluminium-20 | 20Al | 20.04326(13) | 1.1 zs | p | 19Mg | (1−) | |-id=Aluminium-21 | 21Al | 21.0278(13) | 1.1 zs | p | 20Mg | (5/2+) | |-id=Aluminium-22 | β+, p (55%)
| 21Na |
|---|
| β+ (44%) |
| 22Mg |
| - |
| β+, 2p (1.10%) |
| 20Ne |
| - |
| β+, α (0.038%) |
| 18Ne |
| -id=Aluminium-23 |
| β+ (98.78%) |
| 23Mg |
| - |
| β+, p (1.22%) |
| 22Na |
| -id=Aluminium-24 |
| β+ (99.96%) |
| 24Mg |
| - |
| β+, α (0.035%) |
| 20Ne |
| - |
| β+, p (0.0016%) |
| 23Na |
| -id=Aluminium-24m |
| IT (82.5%) |
| 24Al |
| - |
| β+ (17.5%) |
| 24Mg |
| - |
| β+, α (0.028%) |
| 20Ne |
| -id=Aluminium-25 |
| 25Al |
| 24.990428308(69) |
| 7.1666(23) s |
| β+ |
| 25Mg |
| 5/2+ |
| |-
| β+ (85%) |
|---|
| EC (15%) |
| -id=Aluminium-26m |
| 6.3460(5) s |
| β+ |
| 26Mg |
| 0+ |
| |-id=Aluminium-27 | 27Al | 26.981538408(50) | 5/2+ | 1.0000 |-id=Aluminium-28 | 28Al | 27.981910009(52) | 2.245(5) min | β− | 28Si | 3+ | |-id=Aluminium-29 | 29Al | 28.98045316(37) | 6.56(6) min | β− | 29Si | 5/2+ | |-id=Aluminium-30 | 30Al | 29.9829692(21) | 3.62(6) s | β− | 30Si | 3+ | |-id=Aluminium-31 | β− (98.4%)
| 31Si |
|---|
| β−, n ( |
| 30Si |
| -id=Aluminium-32 |
| β− (99.3%) |
| 32Si |
| - |
| β−, n (0.7%) |
| 31Si |
| -id=Aluminium-32m |
| 200(20) ns |
| IT |
| 32Al |
| (4+) |
| |-id=Aluminium-33 | β− (91.5%)
| 33Si |
|---|
| β−, n (8.5%) |
| 32Si |
| -id=Aluminium-34 |
| β− (74%) |
| 34Si |
| - |
| β−, n (26%) |
| 33Si |
| -id=Aluminium-34m |
| β− (89%) |
| 34Si |
| - |
| β−, n (11%) |
| 33Si |
| -id=Aluminium-35 |
| β− (64.2%) |
| 35Si |
| - |
| β−, n (35.8%) |
| 34Si |
| -id=Aluminium-36 |
| β− (69%) |
| 36Si |
| - |
| β−, n ( |
| 35Si |
| -id=Aluminium-37 |
| β−, n (52%) |
| 36Si |
| - |
| β− ( |
| 37Si |
| - |
| β−, 2n (1%) |
| 35Si |
| -id=Aluminium-38 |
| β−, n (84%) |
| 37Si |
| - |
| β− (16%) |
| 38Si |
| -id=Aluminium-39 |
| β−, n (97%) |
| 38Si |
| - |
| β− (3%) |
| 39Si |
| -id=Aluminium-40 |
| β−, n (64%) |
| 39Si |
| - |
| β−, 2n (20%) |
| 38Si |
| - |
| β− (16%) |
| 40Si |
| -id=Aluminium-41 |
| β−, n (86%) |
| 40Si |
| - |
| β−, 2n (11%) |
| 39Si |
| - |
| β− (3%) |
| 41Si |
| -id=Aluminium-42 |
| 42Al |
| 42.04508(54)# |
| 3# ms |
| [170 ns] |
| | | | |-id=Aluminium-43 | 43Al | 43.05182(64)# | 4# ms [170 ns] | β−? | 43Si | 5/2+# |
Aluminium-26
Main article: Aluminium-26
Cosmogenic aluminium-26 was first described in studies of the Moon and meteorites. Meteorite fragments, after departure from their parent bodies, are exposed to intense cosmic-ray bombardment during their travel through space, causing substantial 26Al production. After falling to Earth, atmospheric shielding protects the meteorite fragments from further 26Al production, and its decay can then be used to determine the meteorite's terrestrial age. Meteorite research has also shown that 26Al was relatively abundant at the time of formation of our planetary system. Most meteoriticists believe that the energy released by the decay of 26Al was responsible for the melting and differentiation of some asteroids after their formation 4.55 billion years ago. |url-access=limited
References
References
- (2005). "Radiogenic Isotope Geology". Cambridge University Press.
- (2025-07-10). "Isospin Symmetry Breaking Disclosed in the Decay of Three-Proton Emitter 20Al". Physical Review Letters.
- (2024-09-03). "Observation and spectroscopy of the proton-unbound nucleus 21Al". Physical Review C.
- (9 April 2024). "Precision Mass Measurement of the Proton Dripline Halo Candidate Al 22". Physical Review Letters.
- Mougeot, X.. (2019). "Towards high-precision calculation of electron capture decays". Applied Radiation and Isotopes.
- (2022). "Crossing ''N'' {{=}} 28 toward the neutron drip line: first measurement of half-lives at FRIB". Physical Review Letters.
- "Physics 6805 Topics in Nuclear Physics". Ohio State University.
- (13 Dec 2005). "26Al in the inner Galaxy". Astronomy & Astrophysics.
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