Neon-32

Properties and data of the isotope ³²Ne.

Contents

Neon-32 is a radioisotope of the chemical element neon, which has 22 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 32. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ³²Ne is exclusively for academic purposes and experimental research.

Neon-32 belongs to a rare group of isotopes - the so-called exotic nuclei, whose atomic nuclei are strongly deformed. These nuclides are always on the verge of breaking apart because they contain too many or too few neutrons. However, their study is problematic because exotic nuclei are very difficult to produce and have a very short lifespan [cf. Doornenbal et al. 2009; Murray et al. 2019].

The first observation of the neutron-rich isotope was reported in 1990: According to this, neon-32 was created by fragmenting a tantalum sample with a 44 MeV/u beam of calcium-48 ions [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Neon-32; Ne-32Symbol:³²Ne or 3210NeMass number A:32 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:10 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:22Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):2.2 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):12Isotopic mass:32.039720(540) u (atomic weight of Neon-32)Nuclide mass:32.0342342 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:36.99894 MeVMass defect:0.22915847199999 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:213.45974172 MeV (per nucleus)
6.67061693 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 2.254(569) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 27.133(734) MeV (first proton)Half-life:3.5(9) msDecay constant λ:198.04205158856 s^-1Specific activity α:3.726991033928 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
1.007294874034 × 10⁺¹⁴ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:1990

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 3.5(9) ms respectively 3.5 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	³²Na	100 %	18.360(500) MeV
β^-, n	³¹Na	?	16.682(503) MeV
β^-, 2n	³⁰Na	?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 22) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 32) with Neon-32. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 22	Isobar A = 32
9	³¹F
10	³²Ne	³²Ne
11	³³Na	³²Na
12	³⁴Mg	³²Mg
13	³⁵Al	³²Al
14	³⁶Si	³²Si
15	³⁷P	³²P
16	³⁸S	³²S
17	³⁹Cl	³²Cl
18	⁴⁰Ar	³²Ar
19	⁴¹K	³²K
20	⁴²Ca
21	⁴³Sc
22	⁴⁴Ti
23	⁴⁵V
24	⁴⁶Cr
25	⁴⁷Mn
26	⁴⁸Fe
27	⁴⁹Co
28	⁵⁰Ni

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 32Ne

Literature and References

[1] - D. Guillemaud-Mueller, J. C. Jacmart, E. Kashy et al.:
Particle stability of the isotopes ²⁶O and ³²Ne in the reaction 44 MeV/nucleon ⁴⁸Ca+Ta.
In: Physical Review C, 41, 937, (1990), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.41.937.

[2] - P. Doornenbal et al.:
Spectroscopy of ³²Ne and the Island of Inversion.
In: Physical Review Letters, (2009), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.103.032501.

[3] - I. Murray, M. MacCormick, D. Bazin et al.:
Spectroscopy of strongly deformed ³²Ne by proton knockout reactions.
In: Physical Review C, 99, 011302(R), (2019), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.99.011302.