Lead (82Pb) has four observationally 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; a fourth decay chain, the neptunium series, terminates with the thallium isotope 205Tl. The three series terminating in lead represent the decay chain products of long-lived primordial 238U, 235U, and 232Th. Each isotope 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 17.3 million years and 202Pb with a half-life of 52,500 years. A shorter-lived naturally occurring radioisotope, 210Pb with a half-life of 22.2 years, is useful for studying the sedimentation chronology of environmental samples on time scales shorter than 100 years.[5]
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 2.01×1019 years.) 208Pb is also a doubly magic isotope, as it has 82 protons and 126 neutrons.[6] It is the heaviest doubly magic nuclide known. A total of 43 lead isotopes are now known, including very unstable synthetic species.
The four primordial isotopes of lead are all observationally stable, meaning that they are predicted to undergo radioactive decay but no decay has been observed yet. These four isotopes are predicted to undergo alpha decay and become isotopes of mercury which are themselves radioactive or observationally stable.
In its fully ionized state, the beta decay of isotope 210Pb does not release a free electron; the generated electron is instead captured by the atom's empty orbitals.[7]
^Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF). Chinese Physics C. 45 (3): 030001. doi:10.1088/1674-1137/abddae.
^Meija et al. 2016.
^"Standard Atomic Weights: Lead". CIAAW. 2020.
^Prohaska, Thomas; Irrgeher, Johanna; Benefield, Jacqueline; Böhlke, John K.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Ding, Tiping; Dunn, Philip J. H.; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Meijer, Harro A. J. (2022-05-04). "Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry. doi:10.1515/pac-2019-0603. ISSN 1365-3075.
^Jeter, Hewitt W. (March 2000). "Determining the Ages of Recent Sediments Using Measurements of Trace Radioactivity" (PDF). Terra et Aqua (78): 21–28. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2016. Retrieved October 23, 2019.
^Takahashi, K; Boyd, R. N.; Mathews, G. J.; Yokoi, K. (October 1987). "Bound-state beta decay of highly ionized atoms". Physical Review C. 36 (4): 1522–1528. Bibcode:1987PhRvC..36.1522T. doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.36.1522. ISSN 0556-2813. OCLC 1639677. PMID 9954244. Retrieved 2016-11-20. As can be seen in Table I (187Re, 210Pb, 227Ac, and 241Pu), some continuum-state decays are energetically forbidden when the atom is fully ionized. This is because the atomic binding energies liberated by ionization, i.e., the total electron binding in the neutral atom, Bn, increases with Z. If [the decay energy] Qn<Bn(Z+1)-Bn(Z), the continuum-state β decay is energetically forbidden.
nuclide known. A total of 43 leadisotopes are now known, including very unstable synthetic species. The four primordial isotopesoflead are all observationally...
stable isotopes, which make up almost all lead that exists naturally, there are trace quantities of a few radioactive isotopes. One of them is lead-210;...
to as stable isotopes or stable nuclides. For example, 14 C is a radioactive form of carbon, whereas 12 C and 13 C are stable isotopes. There are about...
abundance figures) of these isotopes is the atomic weight listed for the element in the periodic table. The abundance of an isotope varies from planet...
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Other isotopes such as uranium-233 have been produced in breeder reactors. In addition to isotopes found in nature or nuclear reactors, many isotopes with...
tin-126. 38 isotopesoflead have been discovered. 9 of these are naturally occurring. The most common isotope is lead-208, followed by lead-206, lead-207, and...
given. Like all trace or artificial elements, it has no stable isotopes. The first isotope to be synthesized and identified was 239Np in 1940, produced...
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more specific atoms with their isotopes. The reactant is then allowed to undergo the reaction. The position of the isotopes in the products is measured to...
list can instead be found in Template:Navbox element isotopes. The symbols for the named isotopesof hydrogen, deuterium (D), and tritium (T) are still...
elements, they are usually termed stable isotopes. The 80 elements with one or more stable isotopes comprise a total of 251 nuclides that have not been known...
11 have 5 stable isotopes, 9 have 4 stable isotopes, 5 have 3 stable isotopes, 16 have 2 stable isotopes, and 26 have 1 stable isotope. Additionally, about...
Natural isotopes are either stable isotopes or radioactive isotopes that have a sufficiently long half-life to allow them to exist in substantial concentrations...
often after a series of decays, a stable isotope is reached: there are 251 stable isotopes in the universe. In stable isotopes, light elements typically...
geophysics and nuclear physics, primordial nuclides, also known as primordial isotopes, are nuclides found on Earth that have existed in their current form since...
above lead in atomic number, the decay chain typically ends with an isotopeoflead or bismuth. Bismuth itself decays to thallium, but the decay is so...
formation processes of the two stable isotopesof helium produce the differing isotope abundances. Equal mixtures of liquid 3 He and 4 He below 0.8 K separate...
A table or chart of nuclides is a two-dimensional graph ofisotopesof the elements, in which one axis represents the number of neutrons (symbol N) and...
Isotope analysis is the identification ofisotopic signature, abundance of certain stable isotopesof chemical elements within organic and inorganic compounds...
has isotopes that are not radioactive, these are termed "stable" isotopes. All of the known stable isotopes occur naturally (see primordial isotope). The...
available from long-lived isotopes, short-lived isotopes that are no longer present in the rock can be used. At the beginning of the solar system, there...
occurring isotopes but none are stable. One isotope, 232Th, is relatively stable, with a half-life of 1.405×1010 years, considerably longer than the age of the...
Earth and has, with 10 stable isotopes, the largest number of stable isotopes in the periodic table, due to its magic number of protons. It has two main allotropes:...
The environmental isotopes are a subset ofisotopes, both stable and radioactive, which are the object ofisotope geochemistry. They are primarily used...
synthesis or through radioactive decay of even heavier elements, and all known isotopes are short-lived. Six isotopesof flerovium are known, ranging in mass...
isotopes, especially uranium-235, uranium-238, and thorium-232 produce many intermediate daughter nuclides before they too finally decay to isotopes of...
An isotopic signature (also isotopic fingerprint) is a ratio of non-radiogenic 'stable isotopes', stable radiogenic isotopes, or unstable radioactive...
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