Lithium-11

Properties and data of the isotope ¹¹Li.

Contents

Lithium-11 is a radioisotope of the chemical element Lithium, which, in addition to the element-specific 3 protons, has 8 neutrons in the atomic nucleus, resulting in the mass number 11. The very short-lived, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide, which can only be produced artificially, has no practical significance; The study of ¹¹Li is exclusively for academic purposes.

The nuclide is assumed to have an exotic nuclear structure: they consist of so-called halo nuclei , which consists of an inner (conventional) nuclei with 3 protons and 6 neutrons, which are orbited in orbital-like orbits by two further neutrons (2-neutron halo).

Lithium-11 was discovered as a fragment that occurred when a uranium foil was irradiated with 5.3 GeV protons [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Lithium-11; Li-11Symbol:¹¹Li or 113LiMass number A:11 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:3 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:8Isotopic mass:11.0437236(7) u (atomic weight of Lithium-11)Nuclide mass:11.0420779 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:40.72827 MeVMass defect:0.049070824000001 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:45.70917813 MeV (per nucleus)
4.15537983 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 0.396(13) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 15.758(93) MeV (first proton)Half-life:8.75(14) msDecay constant λ:79.216820635422 s^-1Specific activity α:4.33686229402 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
1.172124944331 × 10⁺¹⁴ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)3/2-Isobaric spin: 5/2Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μ_N) = 3.6711(2)Quadrupole moment Q:-0.0333(5) barn (100 fm²)Nuclear g-factor:g_l = 2.4474Charge radius:3.16 femtometer fmMirror nucleus:Oxygen-11Year of discovery:1966

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 8.75(14) ms respectively 8.75 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	¹¹Be	100 %	20.5511(7) MeV
β^-, n	¹⁰Be		20.0495(6) MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 8) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 11) with Lithium-11. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 8	Isobar A = 11
2	¹⁰He
3	¹¹Li	¹¹Li
4	¹²Be	¹¹Be
5	¹³B	¹¹B
6	¹⁴C	¹¹C
7	¹⁵N	¹¹N
8	¹⁶O	¹¹O
9	¹⁷F
10	¹⁸Ne
11	¹⁹Na
12	²⁰Mg
13	²¹Al
14	²²Si

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 11Li

Literature and References

[1] - A. M. Poskanzer, S. W. Cosper, Earl K. Hyde, Joseph Cerny:
New Isotopes: ¹¹Li, ¹⁴B, and ¹⁵B.
In: Physical Review Letters, 17, 1271, (1966), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.17.1271.

[2] - F. Sarazin, J. S. Al-Khalili, G. C. Ball et al.:
Halo neutrons and the β decay of ¹¹Li.
In: Physical Review C, 70, 031302(R), (2004), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.70.031302.