Mercury-179

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁷⁹Hg.

Contents

General Data

Radioactive Decay

Parent Nuclides

Isotones und Isobares

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Mercury-179; Hg-179Symbol:¹⁷⁹Hg or 17980HgMass number A:179 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:80 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:99Isotopic mass:178.981827(29) u (atomic weight of Mercury-179)Nuclide mass:178.9379454 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-16.92804 MeVMass defect:1.502002244 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:1399.10607827 MeV (per nucleus)
7.81623507 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 8.684(29) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 1.913(29) MeV (first proton)Half-life:1.05(3) sDecay constant λ:0.66014017196185 s^-1Specific activity α:2.233402866773 × 10⁺²¹ Bq g^-1
60362239642.532 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(7/2-)Year of discovery:1970

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 1.05(3) s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
α	¹⁷⁵Pt	55(25) %	6.36(3) MeV
EC/β⁺	¹⁷⁹Au	45(25) %	8.06(3) MeV
EC, p	¹⁷⁸Pt	ca. 0.15 %	?

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotope is: ¹⁸³Pb.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 99) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 179) with Mercury-179. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 99	Isobar A = 179
57	¹⁵⁶La
58	¹⁵⁷Ce
59	¹⁵⁸Pr
60	¹⁵⁹Nd
61	¹⁶⁰Pm
62	¹⁶¹Sm
63	¹⁶²Eu
64	¹⁶³Gd
65	¹⁶⁴Tb
66	¹⁶⁵Dy
67	¹⁶⁶Ho
68	¹⁶⁷Er
69	¹⁶⁸Tm	¹⁷⁹Tm
70	¹⁶⁹Yb	¹⁷⁹Yb
71	¹⁷⁰Lu	¹⁷⁹Lu
72	¹⁷¹Hf	¹⁷⁹Hf
73	¹⁷²Ta	¹⁷⁹Ta
74	¹⁷³W	¹⁷⁹W
75	¹⁷⁴Re	¹⁷⁹Re
76	¹⁷⁵Os	¹⁷⁹Os
77	¹⁷⁶Ir	¹⁷⁹Ir
78	¹⁷⁷Pt	¹⁷⁹Pt
79	¹⁷⁸Au	¹⁷⁹Au
80	¹⁷⁹Hg	¹⁷⁹Hg
81	¹⁸⁰Tl	¹⁷⁹Tl
82	¹⁸¹Pb	¹⁷⁹Pb