Neon-15

Properties and data of the isotope ¹⁵Ne.

Contents

Neon-15 is a radioisotope of the chemical element neon, which has 5 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 10 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 15. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ¹⁵Ne is exclusively for academic purposes.

The first report on the discovery of the neutron-rich nuclide dates back to 2014. Neon-15 was created by a so-called two-neutron knockout reaction from a beam of Neon-17 nuclei with a beam energy of 500 MeV/u [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Neon-15; Ne-15Symbol:¹⁵Ne or 1510NeMass number A:15 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:10 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:5Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):0.5 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):-5Isotopic mass:15.04317(7) u (atomic weight of Neon-15)Nuclide mass:15.0376842 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:40.2126 MeVMass defect:0.078404899999999 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:73.03369392 MeV (per nucleus)
4.86891293 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Half-life:7.7(3) × 10^-22 sDecay constant λ:9.001911435843 × 10⁺²⁰ s^-1Specific activity α:3.614051911688 × 10⁺⁴³ Bq g^-1
9.767707869427 × 10⁺³² Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(3/2-)Mirror nucleus:Boron-15Year of discovery:2013

Radioactive Decay

Neon-15 undergoes 2p decay (simultaneous emission of two protons) to oxygen-13.

Half-life T_½ = 7.7(3) × 10^-22 s respectively 7.7 × 10^-22 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
2p	¹³O	100 %

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 5) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 15) with Neon-15. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.