Cerium-150

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁵⁰Ce.

Contents

General Data

Radioactive Decay

Parent Nuclides

Isotones und Isobares

Literature

Cerium-150 is a radioisotope of the chemical element cerium, which has 92 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 58 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 150. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ¹⁵⁰Ce is exclusively for academic purposes.

According to a 1970 report, the neutron-rich isotope cerium-150 was identified by analyzing γ-radiation following spontaneous fission of a californium-252 source. The nucleus originated as a fission fragment of the heavy parent nucleus and was detected via characteristic γ-transitions in the ground-state band structure. The first four transitions could be unambiguously assigned to the nuclide. The authors point out that their results partially correlate with previously available data, suggesting a first-time identification for certain nuclei, including cerium-150, without explicitly declaring this a discovery [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Cerium-150; Ce-150Symbol:¹⁵⁰Ce or 15058CeMass number A:150 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:58 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:92Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.5862068965517 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):34Isotopic mass:149.930384(13) u (atomic weight of Cerium-150)Nuclide mass:149.8985686 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-64.84689 MeVMass defect:1.320640128 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1230.16835539 MeV (per nucleus)
8.20112237 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 6.248(16) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 11.916(201) MeV (first proton)Half-life:6.05(7) sDecay constant λ:0.11456978191073 s^-1Specific activity α:4.630572919185 × 10⁺²⁰ Bq g^-1
12515061943.745 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:1970

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 6.05(7) s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	¹⁵⁰Pr	100 %	3.454(14) MeV

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotope is: ¹⁵⁰La.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 92) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 150) with Cerium-150. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 92	Isobar A = 150
53	¹⁴⁵I
54	¹⁴⁶Xe
55	¹⁴⁷Cs	¹⁵⁰Cs
56	¹⁴⁸Ba	¹⁵⁰Ba
57	¹⁴⁹La	¹⁵⁰La
58	¹⁵⁰Ce	¹⁵⁰Ce
59	¹⁵¹Pr	¹⁵⁰Pr
60	¹⁵²Nd	¹⁵⁰Nd
61	¹⁵³Pm	¹⁵⁰Pm
62	¹⁵⁴Sm	¹⁵⁰Sm
63	¹⁵⁵Eu	¹⁵⁰Eu
64	¹⁵⁶Gd	¹⁵⁰Gd
65	¹⁵⁷Tb	¹⁵⁰Tb
66	¹⁵⁸Dy	¹⁵⁰Dy
67	¹⁵⁹Ho	¹⁵⁰Ho
68	¹⁶⁰Er	¹⁵⁰Er
69	¹⁶¹Tm	¹⁵⁰Tm
70	¹⁶²Yb	¹⁵⁰Yb
71	¹⁶³Lu	¹⁵⁰Lu
72	¹⁶⁴Hf
73	¹⁶⁵Ta
74	¹⁶⁶W
75	¹⁶⁷Re
76	¹⁶⁸Os
77	¹⁶⁹Ir
78	¹⁷⁰Pt
79	¹⁷¹Au
80	¹⁷²Hg