STABLE ISOTOPE

'Stable isotopes' are chemical isotopes that are not radioactive. Stable isotopes of the same element have the same chemical characteristics and therefore behave almost identically. The mass differences, due to a difference in the number of neutrons, result in partial separation of the light from heavy isotopes during chemical reactions (isotope fractionation). For example, the difference in mass between the two stable isotopes of hydrogen, ¹H (1 proton, no neutron, also known as protium) and ²H (1 proton, 1 neutron, also known as deuterium) is almost 100%. Therefore, a significant fractionation will occur.
Commonly analysed stable isotopes include oxygen, carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen and sulfur. These isotope systems have been under investigation for many years as they are relatively simple to measure. Recent advances in mass spectrometry (ie. multiple-collector inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry) now enable the measurement of heavier stable isotopes, such as iron, copper, zinc, molybdenum, etc.
Stable isotopes have been used in botanical and plant biological investigations for many years, and more and more ecological and biological studies are finding stable isotopes (mostly carbon, nitrogen and oxygen) to be extremely useful. Other workers have used oxygen isotopes to reconstruct historical atmospheric temperatures, making them important tools for climate research.

Contents

Stable isotope fractionation

List of stable isotopes

See also

References

Stable isotope fractionation

There are three types of isotope fractionation:

★ equilibrium fractionation

★ kinetic fractionation

★ mass-independent fractionation

List of stable isotopes

Every element from hydrogen to lead has at least one stable isotope with the exceptions of technetium and promethium; elements with more protons (i.e. an atomic number greater than 82) only have radioactive isotopes, although, like any radioactive isotope, they can still occur naturally if either their half-life are of an order of magnitude not much less than that of the time since the death of a nearby star or because they occur in a decay chain of another radioactive isotope with such a half-life; these isotopes have been excluded from this list. It wasn't until 2003 that bismuth-209 was shown to be radioactive.^[1]

# Hydrogen-1
# Hydrogen-2
# Helium-3
# Helium-4
# Lithium-6
# Lithium-7
# Beryllium-9
# Boron-10
# Boron-11
# Carbon-12
# Carbon-13
# Nitrogen-14
# Nitrogen-15
# Oxygen-16
# Oxygen-17
# Oxygen-18
# Fluorine-19
# Neon-20
# Neon-21
# Neon-22
# Sodium-23
# Magnesium-24
# Magnesium-25
# Magnesium-26
# Aluminium-27
# Silicon-28
# Silicon-29
# Silicon-30
# Phosphorus-31
# Sulphur-32
# Sulphur-33
# Sulphur-34
# Sulphur-36
# Chlorine-35
# Chlorine-37
# Argon-36
# Argon-38
# Argon-40
# Potassium-39
# Potassium-41
# Calcium-40
# Calcium-42
# Calcium-43
# Calcium-44
# Calcium-46
# Scandium-45
# Titanium-46
# Titanium-47
# Titanium-48
# Titanium-49
# Titanium-50
# Vanadium-51
# Chromium-52
# Chromium-53
# Chromium-54
# Manganese-55
# Iron-54
# Iron-56
# Iron-57
# Iron-58
# Cobalt-59
# Nickel-58
# Nickel-60
# Nickel-61
# Nickel-62
# Nickel-64
# Copper-63
# Copper-65
# Zinc-64
# Zinc-66
# Zinc-67
# Zinc-68
# Zinc-70
# Gallium-69
# Gallium-71
# Germanium-70
# Germanium-72
# Germanium-73
# Germanium-74
# Arsenic-75
# Selenium-74
# Selenium-76
# Selenium-77
# Selenium-78
# Selenium-80
# Bromine-79
# Bromine-81
# Krypton-80
# Krypton-82
# Krypton-83
# Krypton-84
# Krypton-86
# Rubidium-85
# Strontium-84
# Strontium-86
# Strontium-87
# Strontium-88
# Yttrium-89
# Zirconium-90
# Zirconium-91
# Zirconium-92
# Zirconium-94
# Niobium-93
# Molybdenum-92
# Molybdenum-94
# Molybdenum-95
# Molybdenum-96
# Molybdenum-97
# Molybdenum-98
#: Technetium - No stable isotopes
# Ruthenium-96
# Ruthenium-98
# Ruthenium-99
# Ruthenium-100
# Ruthenium-101
# Ruthenium-102
# Ruthenium-104
# Rhodium-103
# Palladium-102
# Palladium-104
# Palladium-105
# Palladium-106
# Palladium-108
# Palladium-110
# Silver-107
# Silver-109
# Cadmium-106
# Cadmium-108
# Cadmium-110
# Cadmium-111
# Cadmium-112
# Cadmium-114
# Indium-113
# Tin-112
# Tin-114
# Tin-115
# Tin-116
# Tin-117
# Tin-118
# Tin-119
# Tin-120
# Tin-122
# Tin-124
# Antimony-121
# Antimony-123
# Tellurium-122
# Tellurium-123
# Tellurium-124
# Tellurium-126
# Iodine-127
# Xenon-126
# Xenon-128
# Xenon-129
# Xenon-130
# Xenon-131
# Xenon-132
# Xenon-134
# Xenon-136
# Caesium-133
# Barium-132
# Barium-134
# Barium-135
# Barium-136
# Barium-137
# Barium-138
# Lanthanum-139
# Cerium-138
# Cerium-140
# Praseodymium-141
# Neodymium-142
# Neodymium-143
# Neodymium-145
# Neodymium-146
# Neodymium-148
#: Promethium - No stable isotopes
# Samarium-144
# Samarium-150
# Samarium-152
# Samarium-154
# Europium-153
# Gadolinium-154
# Gadolinium-155
# Gadolinium-156
# Gadolinium-157
# Gadolinium-158
# Gadolinium-160
# Terbium-159
# Dysprosium-156
# Dysprosium-158
# Dysprosium-160
# Dysprosium-161
# Dysprosium-162
# Dysprosium-163
# Dysprosium-164
# Holmium-165
# Erbium-162
# Erbium-164
# Erbium-166
# Erbium-167
# Erbium-168
# Erbium-170
# Thulium-169
# Ytterbium-168
# Ytterbium-170
# Ytterbium-171
# Ytterbium-172
# Ytterbium-173
# Ytterbium-174
# Ytterbium-176
# Lutetium-175
# Hafnium-176
# Hafnium-177
# Hafnium-178
# Hafnium-179
# Hafnium-180
# Tantalum-181
# Tungsten-182
# Tungsten-183
# Tungsten-184
# Tungsten-186
# Rhenium-185
# Osmium-187
# Osmium-188
# Osmium-189
# Osmium-190
# Osmium-192
# Iridium-191
# Iridium-193
# Platinum-192
# Platinum-194
# Platinum-195
# Platinum-196
# Platinum-198
# Gold-197
# Mercury-198
# Mercury-199
# Mercury-200
# Mercury-201
# Mercury-202
# Mercury-204
# Thallium-203
# Thallium-205
# Lead-206
# Lead-207
# Lead-208

See also

★ isotope table (complete)

★ isotope table (divided)

★ isotope geochemistry

★ radionuclide

References

1. WWW Table of Radioactive Isotopes