Magnesium-36

Properties and data of the isotope ³⁶Mg.

Contents

Magnesium-36 is a radioisotope of the chemical element magnesium, which has 24 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 12 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 36. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ³⁶Mg is exclusively for academic purposes.

The discovery of the neutron-rich isotope was first reported in 1989. Magnesium-36 was observed when a tantalum sample was irradiated with calcium-48 with an energy of 55 MeV/u [1].

General data

Name of the isotope:Magnesium-36; Mg-36Symbol:³⁶Mg or 3612MgMass number A:36 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:12 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:24Isotopic mass:36.021880(740) u (atomic weight of Magnesium-36)Nuclide mass:36.0152971 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:20.38109 MeVMass defect:0.279978368 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:260.79816992 MeV (per nucleus)
7.24439361 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 3.33(74) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 25.14(96) MeV (first proton)Half-life:7.6(7) msDecay constant λ:91.203576389466 s^-1Specific activity α:1.525668844298 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
41234293089141 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:1989

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 7.6(7) ms respectively 7.6 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	³⁶Al		14.42978 MeV
β^-, n	³⁵Al		12.5287 MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 24) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 36) with Magnesium-36. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 24	Isobar A = 36
10	³⁴Ne
11	³⁵Na	³⁶Na
12	³⁶Mg	³⁶Mg
13	³⁷Al	³⁶Al
14	³⁸Si	³⁶Si
15	³⁹P	³⁶P
16	⁴⁰S	³⁶S
17	⁴¹Cl	³⁶Cl
18	⁴²Ar	³⁶Ar
19	⁴³K	³⁶K
20	⁴⁴Ca	³⁶Ca
21	⁴⁵Sc	³⁶Sc
22	⁴⁶Ti
23	⁴⁷V
24	⁴⁸Cr
25	⁴⁹Mn
26	⁵⁰Fe
27	⁵¹Co
28	⁵²Ni
29	⁵³Cu
30	⁵⁴Zn

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 36Mg

Literature and References

[1] - D. Guillemaud-Mueller, Yu. E. Penionzhkevich, R. Anne et al.:
Observation of new neutron rich nuclei ²⁹F, ^35,36Mg, ^38,39Al, ^40,41Si, ^43,44P, ^45-47S, ^46-49Cl, and ^49-51Ar from the interactions of 55 MeV/u ⁴⁸Ca+Ta.
In: Z. Physik A - Atomic Nuclei, 332, (1989), DOI 10.1007/BF01289774.

[2] - M. Madurga, J. M. Christie, Z. Xu et al.:
New isomeric transition in ³⁶Mg: Bridging the N=20 and N=28 islands of inversion.
In: Physical Review C, 109, 061301, (2024), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.109.L061301.