Californium-246

Properties and data of the isotope ²⁴⁶Cf.

Content

Californium-246 is a radioisotope of the chemical element Californium, which, in addition to the element-specific 98 protons, has 148 neutrons in the atomic nucleus, resulting in the mass number 246. The short-lived, only artificially producible, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; dealing with ²⁴⁶Cf is for academic purposes only.

General data

Name of the isotope:Californium-246; Cf-246Symbol:²⁴⁶Cf or 24698CfMass number A:246 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:98 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:148Isotopic mass:246.0688037(16) u (atomic weight of Californium-246)Nuclide mass:246.0150506 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:64.09023 MeVMass defect:1.980457004 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1844.78381648 MeV (per nucleus)
7.49912121 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 7.3662(24) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 5.0125(18) MeV (first proton)Half-life:35.7(5) hDecay constant λ:5.393302058511 × 10^-6 s^-1Specific activity α:1.320293686851 × 10⁺¹⁶ Bq g^-1
356836.13158146 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:1951

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 35.7(5) h (hours) respectively 1.28520 × 10⁵ seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
α	²⁴²Cm	> 99 %	6.8616(10) MeV
EE/β⁺	²⁴⁶Bk	< 0.004 %	0.123(60) MeV
SZ	^div	0.00024 %

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotope is: ²⁵⁰Fm.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 148) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 246) with Californium-246. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

OZ	Isotone N = 148	Isobar A = 246
90	²³⁸Th
91	²³⁹Pa
92	²⁴⁰U
93	²⁴¹Np
94	²⁴²Pu	²⁴⁶Pu
95	²⁴³Am	²⁴⁶Am
96	²⁴⁴Cm	²⁴⁶Cm
97	²⁴⁵Bk	²⁴⁶Bk
98	²⁴⁶Cf	²⁴⁶Cf
99	²⁴⁷Es	²⁴⁶Es
100	²⁴⁸Fm	²⁴⁶Fm
101	²⁴⁹Md	²⁴⁶Md
102	²⁵⁰No
103	²⁵¹Lr