- #1
WCOLtd
- 108
- 1
It seems odd to me that there would be a radioactive atom so far up the periodic table. What is it about this atom's atomic nucleus that makes it so unstable?
I have taken the German one and wrote a kind of summarization. Unfortunately the English site wasn't as detailed concerning the radioactivity of the isotopes. The good thing is, I learned something about the stability of nuclei myself.mfb said:Did you check the Wikipedia page? It has a good introduction. There are several factors, mainly the very low energy of nuclei of elements nearby combined with the odd number of protons of technetium.
All (?) elements have radioactive isotopes.WCOLtd said:It seems odd to me that there would be a radioactive atom so far up the periodic table. What is it about this atom's atomic nucleus that makes it so unstable?
All (?) elements have radioactive isotopes. What is unusual is that elements 43 and 61 are the only elements with atomic number < 82 that have no stable isotope.WCOLtd said:It seems odd to me that there would be a radioactive atom so far up the periodic table. What is it about this atom's atomic nucleus that makes it so unstable?
As far as I can see it, the liquid-drop-model is - as quoted - semi-empirical, i.e. it takes the observations and tries to explain them by patterns. Those patterns represent the more general principle, that nature always tries to find local energy minima, stable points of balance where energy from elsewhere is needed to leave those states. Since all three atomic forces play a role here the overall situation can be pretty complex. The patterns mentioned in the liquid-drop-model are meant to reduce this complexity onto computational principles. And it works astonishingly well as I experienced as I took them to calculate 100-Tc as a preferred state.snorkack said:Is it pure random chance that elements 43 and 61 don't have any stable isotopes, or is there any more reason?
All the odd isotopes argon. scnr.snorkack said:The absence of stable odd isotopes of elements 18 and 58 is just as odd as their absence for elements 43 and 61.
Then why are 55 and 85 the preferred neutron numbers, seeing how both are odd?mfb said:It is not that odd for the even-numbered elements - 37Ar would have 19 neutrons, 39Ar would have 21 neutrons. 20 is a magic number (the nuclear equivalent of noble gases - completed shells), so 37Cl and 39K are strongly bound, and the argon isotopes decay to those.
139Ce has 81 neutrons, 141 has 83. And 82 is a magic number again.
Magic numbers for reference: 2, 8, 20, 28, 50, 82, and 126
Technetium has no stable isotope because both 97 and 99 are unstable. For 97, the stable isobar is Mo, with 55 neutrons. For 99, the stable isobar is Ru, also with 55 neutrons. What´s special about 55 neutrons?mfb said:Preferred in which way, and where do those numbers come from?
mfb said:It's not the 55 neutrons, it's the paired 42 and 44 protons. There can be only one stable isotope with an odd sum of protons and neutrons, in both cases the elements nearby have a slightly lower energy.
Technetium (Element 43) is radioactive because it has an unstable nucleus. It has an imbalance of protons and neutrons, making it energetically unstable. To become stable, Technetium releases energy in the form of radiation.
The instability of Technetium's nucleus is caused by its atomic structure. With 43 protons and varying numbers of neutrons, the nucleus is not balanced enough to maintain its stability, leading to the release of radiation.
Technetium has a relatively short half-life, meaning it decays at a faster rate compared to other radioactive elements. Its most stable isotope, Technetium-98, has a half-life of only 4.2 million years. This means that after this time, only half of the original amount of Technetium-98 will remain, making it less radioactive.
No, Technetium is not found in nature in significant amounts. It is a man-made element that was first produced by scientists in 1937. It is usually produced in nuclear reactors and can also be found in small traces in uranium ores.
Technetium is commonly used in medical imaging, such as bone scans and heart imaging, due to its ability to emit gamma rays. It is also used in industrial applications, such as detecting leaks in pipelines and analyzing corrosion in oil refineries.