Fluorine-23

Properties and data of the isotope ²³F.

Contents

General Data

Radioactive Decay

Parent Nuclides

Isotones und Isobares

Literature

Fluorine-23 is a radioisotope of the chemical element fluorine, which has 14 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 23. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ²³F is exclusively for academic purposes and experimental research.

The discovery of the unstable isotope was reported in 1970. According to this, when a metallic sample of Thorium-232 was irradiated with neon-22 (174 MeV) in a heavy ion cyclotron, 720 events were recorded, which could be traced back to the formation of fluorine-23 with the help of a magnetic spectrometer [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Fluorine-23; F-23Symbol:²³F or 239FMass number A:23 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:9 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:14Isotopic mass:23.003530(40) u (atomic weight of Fluorine-23)Nuclide mass:22.9985928 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:3.28817 MeVMass defect:0.188204112 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:175.3110011 MeV (per nucleus)
7.62221744 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 7.579(36) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 13.287(66) MeV (first proton)Half-life:2.23(14) sDecay constant λ:0.31082833208966 s^-1Specific activity α:8.138486952622 × 10⁺²¹ Bq g^-1
219959106827.63 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)5/2+Mirror nucleus:Silicon-23Year of discovery:1970

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 2.23(14) s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	²³Ne	> 86 %	8.440(30) MeV
β^- n	²²Ne	< 14 %	3.239(33) MeV

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: ²³O, ²⁴O.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 14) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 23) with Fluorine-23. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 14	Isobar A = 23
5	¹⁹B
6	²⁰C
7	²¹N	²³N
8	²²O	²³O
9	²³F	²³F
10	²⁴Ne	²³Ne
11	²⁵Na	²³Na
12	²⁶Mg	²³Mg
13	²⁷Al	²³Al
14	²⁸Si	²³Si
15	²⁹P
16	³⁰S
17	³¹Cl
18	³²Ar
19	³³K
20	³⁴Ca