Fluorine-16

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁶F.

Contents

Fluorine-16 is a radioisotope of the chemical element fluorine, which has 7 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 9 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 16. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ¹⁶F is exclusively for academic purposes.

The first observation of the proton-rich nuclide was reported in 1964 [1]: When nitrogen gas was irradiated in a cyclotron with helium-3 ions (25 MeV), F-16 was formed by the nuclear reaction ¹⁴N(³He,n)¹⁶F.

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Fluorine-16; F-16Symbol:¹⁶F or 169FMass number A:16 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:9 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:7Isotopic mass:16.011460(6) u (atomic weight of Fluorine-16)Nuclide mass:16.0065228 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:10.67492 MeVMass defect:0.1196197 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:111.42503283 MeV (per nucleus)
6.96406455 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 13.963(15) MeV (first neutron)Half-life:21(5) zsDecay constant λ:3.300700859809 × 10⁺¹⁹ s^-1Specific activity α:1.242330344642 × 10⁺⁴² Bq g^-1
3.357649580115 × 10⁺³¹ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0-Isobaric spin: 1Mirror nucleus:Nitrogen-16Year of discovery:1964

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 21(5) zs respectively 2.1 × 10^-20 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
p	¹⁵O	100 %	0.536 MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 7) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 16) with Fluorine-16. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 7	Isobar A = 16
2	⁹He
3	¹⁰Li
4	¹¹Be	¹⁶Be
5	¹²B	¹⁶B
6	¹³C	¹⁶C
7	¹⁴N	¹⁶N
8	¹⁵O	¹⁶O
9	¹⁶F	¹⁶F
10	¹⁷Ne	¹⁶Ne
11	¹⁸Na
12	¹⁹Mg
13	²⁰Al

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 16F

Literature and References

[1] - H.C. Bryant, J. G. Beery, E. R. Flynn, W. T. Leland:
(He³, n) reactions on various light nuclei.
In: Nuclear Physics, 53, (1964), DOI 10.1016/0029-5582(64)90589-9.