Neon-34

Properties and data of the isotope ³⁴Ne.

Contents

Neon-34 is a radioisotope of the chemical element neon, which has 24 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 34. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ³⁴Ne is exclusively for academic purposes.

The first observation of the unstable neutron-rich isotope was first reported in 2002: The observation and identification of neon-34 was achieved by irradiating (fragmenting) a Ta template with calcium-48 ions accelerated to 64 MeV [1, 2].

Little is known about the nuclide ³⁴; the following data are to be regarded as preliminary.

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Neon-34; Ne-34Symbol:³⁴Ne or 3410NeMass number A:34 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:10 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:24Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):2.4 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):14Isotopic mass:34.056730(550) u (atomic weight of Neon-34)Nuclide mass:34.0512442 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:52.84365 MeVMass defect:0.229478304 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:213.75766331 MeV (per nucleus)
6.2869901 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 1.360(789) MeV (first neutron)Half-life:2 msDecay constant λ:346.57359027997 s^-1Specific activity α:6.138573467647 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
1.659073910174 × 10⁺¹⁴ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:2002

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 2 ms respectively 2 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability
β^-	³⁴Na	?
β^-, n ?	³³Na	?
β^-, 2n ?	³²Na	?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 24) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 34) with Neon-34. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

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