Potassium-53

Properties and data of the isotope ⁵³K.

Contents

Potassium-53 is a radioisotope of the chemical element potassium, which has 34 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 53.

The radioactive isotope was first mentioned in a report from 1983; according to this report, potassium-53 was observed and identified during the fragmentation of an iridium template with 10 GeV protons [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Potassium-53; K-53Symbol:⁵³K or 5319KMass number A:53 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:19 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:34Nucleon pairing (Z - N):odd - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.7894736842105 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):15Isotopic mass:52.98680(12) u (atomic weight of Potassium-53)Nuclide mass:52.9763772 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-12.29572 MeVMass defect:0.456482752 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:425.21094459 MeV (per nucleus)
8.02284801 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 3.229(117) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 18.205(610) MeV (first proton)Half-life:30(5) msDecay constant λ:23.104906018665 s^-1Specific activity α:2.675788434615 × 10⁺²³ Bq g^-1
7231860634095.7 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)(3/2+)Year of discovery:1983

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 30(5) ms respectively 3.0 × 10^-2 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	⁵³Ca	16 %	17.09(12) MeV
β^-, n	⁵²Ca	67 %	13.899(112) MeV
β^-, 2n	⁵¹Ca	17 %	7,723 MeV

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 34) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 53) with Potassium-53. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 34	Isobar A = 53
17	⁵¹Cl
18	⁵²Ar	⁵³Ar
19	⁵³K	⁵³K
20	⁵⁴Ca	⁵³Ca
21	⁵⁵Sc	⁵³Sc
22	⁵⁶Ti	⁵³Ti
23	⁵⁷V	⁵³V
24	⁵⁸Cr	⁵³Cr
25	⁵⁹Mn	⁵³Mn
26	⁶⁰Fe	⁵³Fe
27	⁶¹Co	⁵³Co
28	⁶²Ni	⁵³Ni
29	⁶³Cu	⁵³Cu
30	⁶⁴Zn
31	⁶⁵Ga
32	⁶⁶Ge
33	⁶⁷As
34	⁶⁸Se
35	⁶⁹Br
36	⁷⁰Kr
37	⁷¹Rb

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 53K

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.