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Isotopes of Oxygen

List, data and properties of all known isotopes of Oxygen.


Content

Oxygen isotopes

Three stable isotopes of the chemical element oxygen occur in nature, of which the nuclide 16O is the most common with a proportion of over 99.7%:

 

Naturally Occurring Oxygen Isotopes

Atomic Mass maQuantityHalf-lifeSpin
Oxygen
Isotopic mixture
15,999 u100 %
Isotope 16O15,994914620(2) u99,757 %stable0+
Isotope 18O17,999159613(6) u0,2045 %stable0+
Isotope 17O16,999131757(5) u0,03835(96) %stable5/2+

 

Due to fluctuations in the isotope ratio of natural oxygen, the atomic mass varies in the range from 15.99903 to 15.99977 u.

The number of unstable, radioactive oxygen isotopes known to date is currently 14; here the isotope 15O is the most long-lived with a half-life of just over 2 minutes.

The source for most of the oxygen-16 isotope lies in stellar processes. As the primary isotope, oxygen is formed at the end of the helium fusion chain. Oxygen-17, on the other hand, results as a by-product of the so-called hydrogen burning of stars (CNO cycle), oxygen-18 is produced by the reaction of 14N- with 4He nuclei.

In NMR spectroscopy, the 17O nucleus can be measured with a nuclear spin of 5/2; the other natural isotopes are NMR inactive.

Of the unstable oxygen nuclei, the 15O isotope is used in positron emission tomography.

 

Isotope Table: Oxygen

The two following tables list the most important data and properties of the Oxygen isotopes. Further information on the individual Oxygen isotopes is listed on separate pages and can be accessed via the link in column 1.

 

Atomic Properties

Isotope
Nuclide
ENAtomic Mass
[Nuclear Mass]
{Mass Excess}
Spin I
(h/2π)
Parent
123456
Oxygen-11118O311.05125(6) u
[11.0468614 u]
{47.73907 MeV}
(3/2-)
Oxygen-12128O412.034368(13) u
[12.0299794 u]
{32.01359 MeV}
0+
Oxygen-13138O513.024815(10) u
[13.0204264 u]
{23.11502 MeV}
(3/2-)
Oxygen-14148O614.008596706(27) u
[14.0042081 u]
{8.00778 MeV}
0+
Oxygen-15158O715.0030656(5) u
[14.998677 u]
{2.85559 MeV}
1/2-
Oxygen-16168O815.994914620(2) u
[15.990526 u]
{-4.737 MeV}
0+16N
Oxygen-17178O916.999131757(5) u
[16.9947431 u]
{-0.80876 MeV}
5/2+17N
17F
Oxygen-18188O1017.999159613(6) u
[17.994771 u]
{-0.78282 MeV}
0+18N
18F
Oxygen-19198O1119.0035780(28) u
[18.9991894 u]
{3.33289 MeV}
5/2+19N
Oxygen-20208O1220.0040754(9) u
[19.9996868 u]
{3.79621 MeV}
0+20N
21N
Oxygen-21218O1321.008655(13) u
[21.0042664 u]
{8.06208 MeV}
(5/2+)
Oxygen-22228O1422.00997(6) u
[22.0055814 u]
{9.287 MeV}
0+
Oxygen-23238O1523.01570(13) u
[23.0113114 u]
{14.62446 MeV}
1/2+
Oxygen-24248O1624.01986(18) u
[24.0154714 u]
{18.49947 MeV}
0+
Oxygen-25258O1725.02934(18) u
[25.0249514 u]
{27.33003 MeV}
3/2+
Oxygen-26268O1826.03721(18) u
[26.0328214 u]
{34.66089 MeV}
0+
Oxygen-27278O19
Oxygen-28288O20

 

Radioactive Decay Properties

IsotopeRadioactive DecayExtern
Half-lifeDecay ModeProbabilityEnergy
789101112
O-11198(12) ys2p 9C100 %AL
O-126.3(30) × 10-21 s2p 10C14.675(12) MeVAL
O-138.58(5) msβ+13N
β+, p → 12C
89.1 %
10.9 %
17.767 MeV
-
AL
O-1470.620(15) sβ+14N100 %5.144364(25) MeVAL
O-15122.24(16) sβ+15N2.7542(5) MeVAL
O-16stableAL
O-17stableAL
O-18stableAL
O-1926.88(5) sβ-19F100 %4.8203(26) MeVAL
O-2013.51(5) sβ-20F100 %3.8136(9) MeVAL
O-213.42(10) sβ-21F100 %8.1096 MeVAL
O-222.25(9) sβ-22F
β-, n → 21F
> 88 %
< 22 %
6.4882 MeV
1.2579 MeV
AL
O-2382 msβ-23F
β-, n → 22F
68.3 %
31.7 %
11.311 MeV
3.7560 MeV
AL
O-2465(5) msβ-24F
β-, n → 23F
42 %
58(12) %
10.941 MeV
7.1195 MeV
AL
O-255.18 × 10-21 sn → 24OAL
O-264.5(+32-34) ps2n 24O100 %AL
O-273n → 24O
O-28

 

Notes (related to the columns):

1 - name of the nuclide, isotope.
2 - E: isotope symbol with mass number (superscript; number of nucleons) and Atomic number (subscript; number of protons).
3 - N: number of neutrons.
4 - relative atomic mass of the Oxygen isotope (isotopic mass including electrons) and the mass of the atomic nucleus in square brackets (nuclear mass, nuclide mass without electrons), each related to 12C = 12.00000 [2]. In addition, the mass excess is given in MeV.
5 - nuclear spin I, unit: h/2π.
6 - source nuclides: Possible, assumed or actual source nuclides (mother nuclides, parent nuclides). If applicable, the corresponding decay modes can be found in the data for the respective starting nuclide.

7 - isotope notation in short form.
8 - decay: half-live of the Oxygen isotope (a = years; ; d = days; h = hours; min = minutes; s = seconds).
9 - decay mode: type of decay into the respective daughter nuclides with n = neutron emission; p = proton emission; α = alpha decay; β- = beta minus decay with electron emission; EC = electron capture; β+ = positron emission; ε = β+ and/or EC; Iso = isomeric transition; CD = cluster decay; SF = spontaneous decay.
10 - decay probability in percent (%).
11 - decay energy; Particle energy related to decay type.
12 - other information and notes: AL = Adopted Levels (link to external data [1]).

Miscellaneous:

()- Numbers in brackets: uncertainty to represent the spread of the reported value.
~ - Theoretical values or systematic trends.
  - unlisted-: Nuclides that have already been mentioned in the literature but for some reason can no longer be found in the current nuclide tables because their discovery e.g. has not confirmed.

 

NMR active Oxygen nuclides

Nuclide
quantity 1)
spin
Nuclear
magnetic
moment
μ/μN
Gyromagnetic ratio
{Quadrupole moment}
Resonant
frequency
v0 bei 1 T
Relative
sensitivity
H0 = const.
v0 = const. 3)
17O
0,03835(96) %
5/2+
-1,893543(10)- 3,6279
{- 0,02558(22)}
5,77420,02910
1,5822

1) Quantity Percentage of natural occurrence.

2) Gyromagnetic ratio: 107 rad T-1 s-1
    Quadrupole moment: Q [barn] = [100 fm2]

3) Related to 1H = 1,000.

 

Radiation Protection

According to the Radiation Protection Ordinance (StrlSchV 2018, Germany), the following values (columns 1 to 7) apply to the handling of Oxygen radionuclides:

NuclideLimit ValueHASS limitSCDaughter NuclidesHalf-life
O-15109 Bq100 Bq/g2.0 min

(HASS = High-Activity Sealed Radioactive Sources; SC = surface contamination)

 

Literature Sources and References

Properties of the Oxygen nucleides

[1] - NuDat: National Nuclear Data Center, Brookhaven National Laboratory, based on ENSDF and the Nuclear Wallet Cards.

[2] - G. Audi et. al.: The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties. Nuclear Physics, (2003), DOI 10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001.

[3] - Live Chart of Nuclides. Nuclear structure and decay data.

Oxygen: NMR properties - 17O-NMR

[4] - N. J. Stone: Table of nuclear magnetic dipole and electric quadrupole moments. Atomic Data and Nuclear Data Tables, (2005), DOI 10.1016/j.adt.2005.04.001.

[5] - Pekka Pyykkö: Year-2008 nuclear quadrupole moments. Molecular Physics, (2008), DOI 10.1080/00268970802018367.

[6] - Pekka Pyykkö: Year-2017 nuclear quadrupole moments. Molecular Physics, (2018), DOI 10.1080/00268976.2018.1426131.

[7] - N. J. Stone: Table of recommended nuclear magnetic dipole moments. IAEA, (2019).

More sources:

[8] - Isotopic abundances, atomic weights and isotopic masses: see respective keyword.

 


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Last update: 2022-12-12


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