Potassium-48

Properties and data of the isotope ⁴⁸K.

Contents

Potassium-48 is a radioisotope of the chemical element potassium, which has 29 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 19 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 48.

The discovery of the radioactive isotope was reported in 1972[1]; according to this report, potassium-48 was produced and identified as a fragmentation product during the irradiation of uranium templates with high-energy protons of an energy of 24 GeV.

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Potassium-48; K-48Symbol:⁴⁸K or 4819KMass number A:48 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:19 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:29Nucleon pairing (Z - N):odd - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.5263157894737 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):10Isotopic mass:47.9653412(8) u (atomic weight of Potassium-48)Nuclide mass:47.9549184 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-32.28446 MeVMass defect:0.434616972 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:404.84310172 MeV (per nucleus)
8.43423129 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 4.6438(16) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 14.2062(14) MeV (first proton)Half-life:6.8(2) sDecay constant λ:0.10193340890587 s^-1Specific activity α:1.306079461201 × 10⁺²¹ Bq g^-1
35299444897.338 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(1-)Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μ_N) = -0.8997(45)Nuclear g-factor:g_l = -0.8997Year of discovery:1972

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 6.8(2) s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
β^-	⁴⁸Ca	98.86 %	11.9404(8) MeV
β^-, n	⁴⁷Ca	1.14(15) %	1.9889(24) MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 29) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 48) with Potassium-48. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 29	Isobar A = 48
13	⁴²Al
14	⁴³Si
15	⁴⁴P
16	⁴⁵S	⁴⁸S
17	⁴⁶Cl	⁴⁸Cl
18	⁴⁷Ar	⁴⁸Ar
19	⁴⁸K	⁴⁸K
20	⁴⁹Ca	⁴⁸Ca
21	⁵⁰Sc	⁴⁸Sc
22	⁵¹Ti	⁴⁸Ti
23	⁵²V	⁴⁸V
24	⁵³Cr	⁴⁸Cr
25	⁵⁴Mn	⁴⁸Mn
26	⁵⁵Fe	⁴⁸Fe
27	⁵⁶Co	⁴⁸Co
28	⁵⁷Ni	⁴⁸Ni
29	⁵⁸Cu
30	⁵⁹Zn
31	⁶⁰Ga
32	⁶¹Ge
33	⁶²As
34	⁶³Se