Silicon-44

Properties and data of the isotope ⁴⁴Si.

Contents

Silicon-44 is a radioisotope of the chemical element silicon, which has 30 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 44. The very short-lived, only artificially produced, unstable and thus radioactive nuclide has no practical significance; the study of ⁴⁴Si is exclusively for academic purposes.

The radioactive nuclide was first experimentally detected - according to a report from 2007 - when a beryllium-9 template was irradiated with calcium-48 ions of an energy of 142 MeV/u [1].

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

General data

Name of the isotope:Silicon-44; Si-44Symbol:⁴⁴Si or 4414SiMass number A:44 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:14 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:30Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):2.1428571428571 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):16Isotopic mass:44.03147(54) u (atomic weight of Silicon-44)Nuclide mass:44.02379 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:29.31412 MeVMass defect:0.338027928 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:314.87098676 MeV (per nucleus)
7.15615879 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 3.091(640) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 26.249(781) MeV (first proton)Half-life:4 msDecay constant λ:173.28679513999 s^-1Specific activity α:2.371721567045 × 10⁺²⁴ Bq g^-1
64100582893122 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Year of discovery:2007

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 4 ms respectively 4 × 10^-3 seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy
β^-	⁴⁴P	100 %	18.20(64) MeV
β^-, n ?
β^-, xn ?

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 30) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 44) with Silicon-44. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 30	Isobar A = 44
13	⁴³Al
14	⁴⁴Si	⁴⁴Si
15	⁴⁵P	⁴⁴P
16	⁴⁶S	⁴⁴S
17	⁴⁷Cl	⁴⁴Cl
18	⁴⁸Ar	⁴⁴Ar
19	⁴⁹K	⁴⁴K
20	⁵⁰Ca	⁴⁴Ca
21	⁵¹Sc	⁴⁴Sc
22	⁵²Ti	⁴⁴Ti
23	⁵³V	⁴⁴V
24	⁵⁴Cr	⁴⁴Cr
25	⁵⁵Mn	⁴⁴Mn
26	⁵⁶Fe
27	⁵⁷Co
28	⁵⁸Ni
29	⁵⁹Cu
30	⁶⁰Zn
31	⁶¹Ga
32	⁶²Ge
33	⁶³As
34	⁶⁴Se