Isotopes of radium

Isotopes of radium (88Ra)
Main isotopes[1] Decay
abun­dance half-life (t1/2) mode pro­duct
223Ra trace 11.43 d α 219Rn
224Ra trace 3.6319 d α 220Rn
225Ra trace 14.9 d β 225Ac
226Ra trace 1599 y α 222Rn
228Ra trace 5.75 y β 228Ac

Radium (88Ra) has no stable or nearly stable isotopes, and thus a standard atomic weight cannot be given. The longest lived, and most common, isotope of radium is 226Ra with a half-life of 1600 years. 226Ra occurs in the decay chain of 238U (often referred to as the radium series). Radium has 34 known isotopes from 201Ra to 234Ra.

In 2013 it was discovered that the nucleus of radium-224 is pear-shaped.[2] This was the first discovery of an asymmetrical nucleus.

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ "First observations of short-lived pear-shaped atomic nuclei". 28 November 2023.

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