Silicon-43

Properties and data of the isotope ⁴³Si.

Contents

Silicon-43 is a radioisotope of the chemical element silicon, which has 29 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 43. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ⁴³Si is exclusively for academic purposes.

The first report on the neutron-rich isotope dates back to 2002; Silicon-43 was observed as a fragmentation product during irradiation of a Ta template with calcium-48 ions at an energy of 64 MeV/nucleon [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Silicon-43; Si-43Symbol:⁴³Si or 4314SiMass number A:43 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:14 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:29Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - oddNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):2.0714285714286 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):15Isotopic mass:43.02612(43) u (atomic weight of Silicon-43)Nuclide mass:43.01844 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:24.33062 MeVMass defect:0.334713012 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:311.7831624 MeV (per nucleus)
7.25077122 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 0.581(500) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 24.949(640) MeV (first proton)Half-life:13(5) msDecay constant λ:53.319013889227 s^-1Specific activity α:7.467316561717 × 10⁺²³ Bq g^-1
20181936653290 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)3/2-Year of discovery:2002

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 13(5) ms respectively 1.3 × 10^-2 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	⁴³P	100	19.29(50) MeV
β^-, n ?			15.167(411) MeV
β^-, 2n ?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 29) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 43) with Silicon-43. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

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