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Although phosphorus (15 P) has 22 isotopes from 26 P to 47 P. Only 31 P is stable, thus phosphorus is considered a monoisotopic element. The longest-lived radioactive isotopes are 33 P with a half-life of 25.34 days and 32 P with a half-life of 14.268 days. [3] [4] All others have half-lives of under 2.5 minutes, most under a second.
Rubidium (37 Rb) has 36 isotopes, with naturally occurring rubidium being composed of just two isotopes; 85 Rb (72.2%) and the radioactive 87 Rb (27.8%). 87 Rb has a half-life of 4.92 × 10 10 years. It readily substitutes for potassium in minerals, and is therefore fairly widespread.
All isotopes of a given element have the same number of protons in each atom. The term isotope is formed from the Greek roots isos (ἴσος "equal") and topos (τόπος "place"), meaning "the same place"; thus, the meaning behind the name is that different isotopes of a single element occupy the same position on the periodic table.
Isotope fractionation occurs during a phase transition, when the ratio of light to heavy isotopes in the involved molecules changes. When water vapor condenses (an equilibrium fractionation), the heavier water isotopes (18 O and 2 H) become enriched in the liquid phase while the lighter isotopes (16 O and 1 H) tend toward the vapor phase. [1]
They have shorter half-lives than primordial radionuclides. They arise in the decay chain of the primordial isotopes thorium-232, uranium-238, and uranium-235. Examples include the natural isotopes of polonium and radium. Cosmogenic isotopes, such as carbon-14, are present because they are continually being formed in the atmosphere due to ...
Most of the isotopes with atomic mass numbers below 14 decay to isotopes of carbon, while most of the isotopes with masses above 15 decay to isotopes of oxygen. The shortest-lived known isotope is nitrogen-10, with a half-life of 143(36) yoctoseconds, though the half-life of nitrogen-9 has not been measured exactly.
Archaeological materials, such as bone, organic residues, hair, or sea shells, can serve as substrates for isotopic analysis. Carbon, nitrogen and zinc isotope ratios are used to investigate the diets of past people; these isotopic systems can be used with others, such as strontium or oxygen, to answer questions about population movements and cultural interactions, such as trade.
Isotope separation is the process of concentrating specific isotopes of a chemical element by removing other isotopes. The use of the nuclides produced is varied. The largest variety is used in research (e.g. in chemistry where atoms of "marker" nuclide are used to figure out reaction mechanisms).