Berkelium-243

Properties and data of the isotope ²⁴³Bk.

Content

Berkelium-243 is the very short-lived, only artificially accessible radioisotope of the element Berkelium, whose atomic nucleus has 146 neutrons in addition to the element-specific 97 protons, resulting in a mass number of 243. ²⁴³Bk was the first nuclide of berkelium ever produced (1950). The synthesis succeeded by helium ion bombardment of americium.

General data

Name of the isotope:Berkelium-243; Bk-243Symbol:²⁴³Bk or 24397BkMass number A:243 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:97 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:146Isotopic mass:243.063006(5) u (atomic weight of Berkelium-243)Nuclide mass:243.0098013 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:58.68971 MeVMass defect:1.96109984 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1826.75273436 MeV (per nucleus)
7.51750096 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 7.11(20) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 3.403(4) MeV (first proton)Half-life:4.5(2) hDecay constant λ:4.185671380192 × 10^-5 s^-1Specific activity α:1.037312866046 × 10⁺¹⁷ Bq g^-1
2803548.2866119 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(3/2-)Year of discovery:1950

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 4.5(2) h (hours) respectively 1.6560 × 10⁴ seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
EE/β⁺	²⁴³Cm	99.85 %	1.508(5) MeV
α	²³⁹Am	0.15 %	6.874(4) MeV

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: ²⁴⁷Es, ²⁴³Cf.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 146) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 243) with Berkelium-243. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

OZ	Isotone N = 146	Isobar A = 243
87	²³³Fr
88	²³⁴Ra
89	²³⁵Ac
90	²³⁶Th
91	²³⁷Pa
92	²³⁸U
93	²³⁹Np	²⁴³Np
94	²⁴⁰Pu	²⁴³Pu
95	²⁴¹Am	²⁴³Am
96	²⁴²Cm	²⁴³Cm
97	²⁴³Bk	²⁴³Bk
98	²⁴⁴Cf	²⁴³Cf
99	²⁴⁵Es	²⁴³Es
100	²⁴⁶Fm	²⁴³Fm
101	²⁴⁷Md

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 243Bk

Literature and References

[1] - S. G. Thompson, A. Ghiorso, G. T. Seaborg:
The New Element Berkelium (Atomic Number 97).
In: Physical Review, (1950), DOI 10.1103/PhysRev.80.781.