Neon-22

Properties and data of the isotope ²²Ne.

Contents

Neon-22 is a radioisotope of the chemical element neon, which has 12 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 22.

²²Ne is one of the three stable isotopes that make up the natural Ne gas on earth, accounting for 9.25 %.

The discovery of neon-22 is attributed to the British Joseph John Thomson, who was the first to describe the observation of an isotope of a stable element (1913) and recognized that neon is composed of different isotopes [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Neon-22; Ne-22Symbol:²²Ne or 2210NeMass number A:22 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:10 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:12Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.2 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):2Isotopic mass:21.9913851(2) u (atomic weight of Neon-22)Nuclide mass:21.9858993 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-8.02473 MeVMass defect:0.190844212 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:177.77023841 MeV (per nucleus)
8.08046538 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 10.36426(4) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 15.2661(18) MeV (first proton)Half-life:stableSpin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Charge radius:2.9525(40) femtometer fmMirror nucleus:Magnesium-22Year of discovery:1913

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: ²³F, ²²Na.

Occurrence

Comparison of the natural Neon isotopes including isotopic abundance (mole fraction of the isotope mixture in percent):

	Atomic Mass m_a	Quantity	Half-life	Spin
Neon Isotopic mixture	20.1797 u	100 %
Isotope ²⁰Ne	19.99244018(2) u	90.48(3) % [88.47 - 90.51 %]	stable	0+
Isotope ²¹Ne	20.9938467(3) u	0.27(1) %	stable	3/2+
Isotope ²²Ne	21.9913851(2) u	9.25(3) %	stable	0+

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 12) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 22) with Neon-22. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

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

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 22Ne

Literature and References

[1] - Joseph John Thomson:
Bakerian Lecture: Rays of positive electricity.
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 89, 607, (1913), DOI 10.1098/rspa.1913.0057.