Potassium-52

Properties and data of the isotope ⁵²K.

Contents

Potassium-52 is a radioisotope of the chemical element potassium, which has 33 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 52.

The radioactive isotope was first mentioned in a report from 1983; according to this report, potassium-52 was observed and identified during the fragmentation of an iridium template with 10 GeV protons [1]. However, the actual discovery was not published until 1985 [2].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Potassium-52; K-52Symbol:⁵²K or 5219KMass number A:52 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:19 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:33Nucleon pairing (Z - N):odd - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.7368421052632 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):14Isotopic mass:51.98160(4) u (atomic weight of Potassium-52)Nuclide mass:51.9711772 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-17.13949 MeVMass defect:0.453017836 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:421.98339613 MeV (per nucleus)
8.11506531 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 2.693(36) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 17.937(401) MeV (first proton)Half-life:110(4) msDecay constant λ:6.3013380050904 s^-1Specific activity α:7.440695112299 × 10⁺²² Bq g^-1
2010998678999.9 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(2-)Year of discovery:1983

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 110(4) ms respectively 1.10 × 10^-1 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	⁵²Ca	23.7 %	17.13(3) MeV
β^-, n	⁵¹Ca	74(9) %	11.123(34) MeV
β^-, 2n	⁵⁰Ca	2.3(3) %	7,229 MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 33) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 52) with Potassium-52. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 33	Isobar A = 52
16	⁴⁹S
17	⁵⁰Cl	⁵²Cl
18	⁵¹Ar	⁵²Ar
19	⁵²K	⁵²K
20	⁵³Ca	⁵²Ca
21	⁵⁴Sc	⁵²Sc
22	⁵⁵Ti	⁵²Ti
23	⁵⁶V	⁵²V
24	⁵⁷Cr	⁵²Cr
25	⁵⁸Mn	⁵²Mn
26	⁵⁹Fe	⁵²Fe
27	⁶⁰Co	⁵²Co
28	⁶¹Ni	⁵²Ni
29	⁶²Cu
30	⁶³Zn
31	⁶⁴Ga
32	⁶⁵Ge
33	⁶⁶As
34	⁶⁷Se
35	⁶⁸Br
36	⁶⁹Kr

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 52K

Literature and References

[1] - M. Langevin, C. Détraz, D. Guillemaud-Mueller et al.:
⁵³K, ⁵⁴K and ⁵³Ca: Three new neutron rich isotopes.
In: Physics Letters B, 130, 5, (1983), DOI 10.1016/0370-2693(83)91135-8.

[2] - A. Huck, G. Klotz, A. Knipper et al.:
Beta decay of the new isotopes ⁵²K, ⁵²Ca, and ⁵²Sc; a test of the shell model far from stability.
In: Physical Review C, (1985), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevC.31.2226.