Nitrogen-17 is a radioisotope of the chemical element nitrogen, which has 10 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 7 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 17. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of 17N is exclusively for academic purposes.
The discovery was reported in 1949: The radioactive isotope 17 was produced by irradiating an aqueous ammonium fluoride solution (NH4F) with deutrons (hydrogen-2 nuclei) accelerated to 190 MeV [1]: 19F(d,α)17N.
See also: List of individual Nitrogen isotopes (and general data sources).
General data
Name of the isotope:Nitrogen-17; N-17Symbol:17N or 177NMass number A:17 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:7 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:10Nucleon pairing (Z - N):odd - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.4285714285714 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):3Isotopic mass:17.008449(16) u (atomic weight of Nitrogen-17)Nuclide mass:17.004609 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:7.87019 MeVMass defect:0.132975384 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:123.86577234 MeV (per nucleus) 7.2862219 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:SN = 5.885(15) MeV (first neutron) SP = 13.113(15) MeV (first proton)Half-life:4.173(4) sDecay constant λ:0.16610284700694 s-1Specific activity α:5.881163681135 × 10+21 Bq g-1 158950369760.43 Ci g-1Spin and parity: (nuclear angular momentum)1/2-Isobaric spin: 3/2Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μN) = 0.3552(4)Nuclear g-factor:gl = 0.7104Mirror nucleus:Neon-17Year of discovery:1949
The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 10) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 17) with Nitrogen-17. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.
