Carbon-17

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁷C.

Contents

Carbon-17 is a radioisotope of the chemical element carbon, which has 11 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 6 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 17. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ¹⁷C is exclusively for academic purposes.

A report on the first detection of the radioactive isotope was published in 1968. ¹⁷C was identified as the product of irradiation of metallic uranium with protons accelerated to 5.5 MeV [1].

A nuclear reaction to produce carbon-17 is: ¹⁶C(d,p)¹⁷C [4].

See also: List of individual Carbon isotopes (and general data sources).

General data

Name of the isotope:Carbon-17; C-17Symbol:¹⁷C or 176CMass number A:17 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:6 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:11Isotopic mass:17.022579(19) u (atomic weight of Carbon-17)Nuclide mass:17.0192875 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:21.0322 MeVMass defect:0.119685268 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:111.48610903 MeV (per nucleus)
6.55800641 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 0.734(18) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 23.369(30) MeV (first proton)Half-life:193(6) msDecay constant λ:3.5914361687044 s^-1Specific activity α:1.2722432057 × 10⁺²³ Bq g^-1
3438495150621.6 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)3/2+Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μ_N) = 0.758(4)Nuclear g-factor:g_l = 0.50533333333333Charge radius:2.592 femtometer fmMatter radius:2.982 femtometer fmYear of discovery:1968

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 193(6) ms respectively 1.93 × 10^-1 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	¹⁷N	71.6(13) %	13.162(23) MeV	1.3738(3) MeV [24(8) %] 1.8495(3) MeV [22(5) %]
β^-, n	¹⁶N	28.4(13) %	7.277 MeV
β^-, 2n	¹⁵N	?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 11) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 17) with Carbon-17. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 11	Isobar A = 17
4	¹⁵Be
5	¹⁶B	¹⁷B
6	¹⁷C	¹⁷C
7	¹⁸N	¹⁷N
8	¹⁹O	¹⁷O
9	²⁰F	¹⁷F
10	²¹Ne	¹⁷Ne
11	²²Na	¹⁷Na
12	²³Mg
13	²⁴Al
14	²⁵Si
15	²⁶P
16	²⁷S
17	²⁸Cl

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 17C

Literature and References

[1] - A.M. Poskanzer, G.W. Butler, E.K. Hyde, J. Cerny, D.A. Landis, F.S. Goulding:
Observation of the new isotope 17C using a combined time-of-flight particle-identification technique.
In: Physics Letters B, 27, 7, (1968), DOI 10.1016/0370-2693(68)90222-0.

[2] - J. Braun, H. -W. Hammer, L. Platter:
Halo structure of ¹⁷C.
In: The European Physical Journal A, 54, 196, (2018), DOI 10.1140/epja/i2018-12630-3.

[3] - P. Punta, J. A. Lay, A. M. Moro:
The role of deformation in the ¹⁷C structure and its influence in transfer and breakup reactions.
In: EPJ Web of Conferences 290, 09003, (2023), DOI 10.1051/epjconf/202329009003.

[4] - Le Hoang Chien, P. Descouvemont:
Analysis of the ¹⁶C⁡(d,p)⁢¹⁷C reaction from microscopic ¹⁷C wave functions.
In: Physical Review C, 108, 044605, (2023), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.108.044605.