Cerium-152

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁵²Ce.

Contents

General Data

Radioactive Decay

Parent Nuclides

Isotones und Isobares

Literature

Cerium-152 is a radioisotope of the chemical element cerium, which has 94 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 152. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ¹⁵²Ce is exclusively for academic purposes.

According to a 1990 report, the isotope cerium-152 was produced under reactor conditions by irradiating a uranium target with thermal neutrons. It was formed as a fission product of the excited intermediate nucleus, which decayed after the neutron capture reaction of the target material. Immediately after their formation, the short-lived products were transported via a helium carrier gas to an online isotope separator, where mass-selective separation took place. The isotope was identified based on the analysis of characteristic X-ray and γ-radiation, which was clearly attributed to the β⁻ decay of cerium-152 [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Cerium-152; Ce-152Symbol:¹⁵²Ce or 15258CeMass number A:152 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:58 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:94Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.6206896551724 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):36Isotopic mass:151.93668(21) u (atomic weight of Cerium-152)Nuclide mass:151.9048646 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-58.9822 MeVMass defect:1.33167396 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1240.4463037 MeV (per nucleus)
8.16083095 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 5.827(201) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 12.969(479) MeV (first proton)Half-life:1.42(2) sDecay constant λ:0.48813181729574 s^-1Specific activity α:1.946754014550 × 10⁺²¹ Bq g^-1
52614973366.241 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:1990

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 1.42(2) s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	¹⁵²Pr	100 %	4.78(20) MeV

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotope is: ¹⁵²La.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 94) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 152) with Cerium-152. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 94	Isobar A = 152
54	¹⁴⁸Xe
55	¹⁴⁹Cs
56	¹⁵⁰Ba	¹⁵²Ba
57	¹⁵¹La	¹⁵²La
58	¹⁵²Ce	¹⁵²Ce
59	¹⁵³Pr	¹⁵²Pr
60	¹⁵⁴Nd	¹⁵²Nd
61	¹⁵⁵Pm	¹⁵²Pm
62	¹⁵⁶Sm	¹⁵²Sm
63	¹⁵⁷Eu	¹⁵²Eu
64	¹⁵⁸Gd	¹⁵²Gd
65	¹⁵⁹Tb	¹⁵²Tb
66	¹⁶⁰Dy	¹⁵²Dy
67	¹⁶¹Ho	¹⁵²Ho
68	¹⁶²Er	¹⁵²Er
69	¹⁶³Tm	¹⁵²Tm
70	¹⁶⁴Yb	¹⁵²Yb
71	¹⁶⁵Lu	¹⁵²Lu
72	¹⁶⁶Hf
73	¹⁶⁷Ta
74	¹⁶⁸W
75	¹⁶⁹Re
76	¹⁷⁰Os
77	¹⁷¹Ir
78	¹⁷²Pt
79	¹⁷³Au
80	¹⁷⁴Hg