Nitrogen-11

Properties and data of the isotope ¹¹N.

Content

Nitrogen-11 is a radioisotope of the chemical element nitrogen, which, in addition to the element-specific 7 protons, has 4 neutrons in the atomic nucleus, resulting in the mass number 11. The very short-lived, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide, which can only be produced artificially, has no practical significance; The study of ¹¹N serves exclusively academic purposes.

General data

Name of the isotope:Nitrogen-11; N-11Symbol:¹¹N or 117NMass number A:11 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:7 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:4Isotopic mass:11.026158(5) u (atomic weight of Nitrogen-11)Nuclide mass:11.022318 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:24.36602 MeVMass defect:0.063276887999999 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:58.94204151 MeV (per nucleus)
5.35836741 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 22.506(400) MeV (first neutron)Half-life:550(20) ysDecay constant λ:1.260267601018 × 10⁺²⁵ s^-1Specific activity α:6.899553649586 × 10⁺⁴⁷ Bq g^-1
1.864744229618 × 10⁺³⁷ Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)1/2+Isobaric spin: 3/2Mirror nucleus:Beryllium-11Year of discovery:1974

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 550(20) ys respectively 5.50 × 10^-26 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
p	¹⁰C	100 %	1.827 MeV

Nuclear Isomers

Nuclear isomers or excited states with the activation energy in keV related to the ground state.

Nuclear Isomer	Excitation Energy	Half-life	Spin
^11mN	730(70) keV	6.9(80) × 10^-22 s	1/2-

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 4) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 11) with Nitrogen-11. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

OZ	Isotone N = 4	Isobar A = 11
1	⁵H
2	⁶He
3	⁷Li	¹¹Li
4	⁸Be	¹¹Be
5	⁹B	¹¹B
6	¹⁰C	¹¹C
7	¹¹N	¹¹N
8	¹²O	¹¹O
9	¹³F

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 11N

Literature and References

[1] - J. M. Oliveira Jr., A. Lépine-Szily, H. G. Bohlen et al.:
Observation of the ¹¹N Ground State.
In: Physical Review Letters, 84, 4056, (2000), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.84.4056.

[2] - R. J. Charity, L. G. Sobotka, T. B. Webb, K. W. Brown:
Two-proton decay from α-cluster states in ¹⁰C and ¹¹N.
In: Physical Review C, 105, 014314, (2022), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.105.014314.