Silicon-41

Properties and data of the isotope ⁴¹Si.

Contents

Silicon-41 is a radioisotope of the chemical element silicon, which has 27 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 14 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 41. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ⁴¹Si is exclusively for academic purposes.

The discovery of the neutron-rich isotope was first reported in 1989. Silicon-41 was observed when a tantalum sample was irradiated with calcium-48 with an energy of 55 MeV/u [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Silicon-41; Si-41Symbol:⁴¹Si or 4114SiMass number A:41 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:14 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:27Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1.9285714285714 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):13Isotopic mass:41.01417(32) u (atomic weight of Silicon-41)Nuclide mass:41.00649 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:13.19927 MeVMass defect:0.32933318 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:306.77188117 MeV (per nucleus)
7.482241 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 0.538(324) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 22.909(424) MeV (first proton)Half-life:20.0(25) msDecay constant λ:34.657359027997 s^-1Specific activity α:5.090524339024 × 10⁺²³ Bq g^-1
13758173889255 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)7/2-Year of discovery:1989

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 20.0(25) ms respectively 2.00 × 10^-2 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	⁴¹P	55 %	18.18(32) MeV
β^-, n	⁴⁰P	45 %	13.268(311) MeV
β^-, n ?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 27) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 41) with Silicon-41. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 27	Isobar A = 41
11	³⁸Na
12	³⁹Mg
13	⁴⁰Al	⁴¹Al
14	⁴¹Si	⁴¹Si
15	⁴²P	⁴¹P
16	⁴³S	⁴¹S
17	⁴⁴Cl	⁴¹Cl
18	⁴⁵Ar	⁴¹Ar
19	⁴⁶K	⁴¹K
20	⁴⁷Ca	⁴¹Ca
21	⁴⁸Sc	⁴¹Sc
22	⁴⁹Ti	⁴¹Ti
23	⁵⁰V	⁴¹V
24	⁵¹Cr	⁴¹Cr
25	⁵²Mn
26	⁵³Fe
27	⁵⁴Co
28	⁵⁵Ni
29	⁵⁶Cu
30	⁵⁷Zn
31	⁵⁸Ga
32	⁵⁹Ge