Isotope Basics

What are Isotopes?

Atoms are composed of a cloud of electrons surrounding a dense nucleus that is 100,000 times
smaller and comprised of protons and neutrons. The number of protons(i.e., atomic number, "Z")
determines the element; for example, a strontium nucleus always has 38 protons, and a rubidium
nucleus always has 37. There is an equal number of electrons surrounding the nucleus to keep
the atom electrically neutral, and these electrons determine the chemical properties of the
element—enabling molecules like strontium chloride, SrCl , to form bonds from individual
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strontium and chlorine atoms.

Isotopes are atoms of the same element that have the same number of protons (i.e., atomic
number, "Z") but a different number of neutrons, meaning that their mass number, "A", varies.
Take hydrogen, for example. It has three naturally occurring isotopes-- H,  H, and  H. Hydrogen-
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1, or protium, is the most prevalent hydrogen isotope, accounting for 99.98% hydrogen atoms,
and has no neutrons. Hydrogen-2 and Hydrogen-3 have one and two neutrons, respectively, and
are often man-made. Hydrogen has four additional isotopes ( H through  H) that are manmade
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and highly unstable.

Another example of an element with numerous isotopes is strontium. While most (82.58%)
strontium atoms have 50 neutrons, others have anywhere from 44 to 52 neutrons, yet they are
still strontium because they have 38 protons.

Isotope Notation
Isotopes are notated in multiple ways. Most commonly, they are specified by the name or symbol
of the particular element, immediately following by a hyphen and the mass number (e.g., carbon-
14 or C-14). Isotopes can also be defined in standard, or "AZE", notation where A is the mass
number, Z is the atomic number, and E is the element symbol. The mass number "A" is indicated
with a superscript to the left of the chemical symbol "E" while the atomic number "Z" is
indicated with a subscript.

However, since the atomic number "Z" can always be determined by the chemical symbol, it is
common practice to only state the mass number (e.g.,  C) and pronounce it as "carbon fourteen."
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If the letter "m" immediately follows the mass number (e.g., technetium-99m), it indicates a
metastable state of the atomic nucleus (i.e., a stable state other than the isotope's lowest-energy
ground state).
 

Isotope Properties
Isotopes of the same element have nearly identical chemical and physical properties, but their
nuclear properties vary, making some invaluable for mankind, while others have no practical
value (at least, for the time being). Some are referred to as “stable”, meaning their nuclear
makeup does not change with time. Most naturally occurring isotopes are stable. An isotope is
"radioactive" if its nucleus has a probability of spontaneously changing (i.e., radioactively
decaying) over time. During radioactive decay, a "parent" isotope transforms into a "daughter"
isotope (possibly of a different element). Often, a sequence of daughter decays called a "decay
chain" must complete before a stable nucleus is achieved. The rate at which a radioisotope
decays is measured by the atom's half-life (t ), which represents the time it takes for half of the
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material to decay. Each radioisotope has a definite half-life, ranging from a fraction of a second
(e.g.,  At at 0.1 milliseconds) to billions of years (e.g., U at 4.468 billion years).
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Elements can have both stable and radioactive isotopes. Strontium, for example, has four stable
isotopes: Sr-84, Sr-86, Sr-87, and Sr-88; and one radioactive isotope, Sr-82. Over time, Sr-82
decays to rubidium-82 with a half-life of 25 days, making it suitable for use in generators to
provide rubidium-82, the most convenient positron emission tomography agent for heart
imaging. Twenty-six elements only have one stable element, while tin has the most stable
isotopes with ten.
The approximately ninety naturally occurring elements are estimated to occur as 339 different
isotopes, of which roughly 250 are stable and 35 are unstable (radioactive) with extremely long
half-lives of millions of years. More than 3,000 additional radioactive isotopes have been
artificially created. In nature, most elements are comprised of a mixture of isotopes.
Visit Brookhaven National Laboratory’s National Nuclear Data Center website for an
interactive Chart of Nuclides, which organizes all elements and isotopes according to the number
of protons and neutrons in the nucleus, plus provides information on percent natural abundance
of stable isotopes, half-lives of radioactive isotopes, major emissions and energies (alpha, beta,
positron, gamma), and more.

Isotope Formation and Radiation Types

Isotopes can either form spontaneously (naturally) through radioactive decay of a nucleus (i.e.,
emission of energy in the form of alpha particles, beta particles, neutrons, and photons) or
artificially by bombarding a stable nucleus with charged particles via accelerators or neutrons in
a nuclear reactor. In some cases, a new isotope of the same element is produced. In other cases,
an element is converted to another element in a process called "transmutation."
As radioisotopes naturally decay, particles deposit (i.e., lose) energy onto materials such as air,
water, and people as it passes through them. Alpha particles energy is deposited across the
shortest distance and, therefore, is "stopped" the most easily. Beta particles require slightly more
protection, and photons (gamma rays and X rays) need much greater shielding. Neutron radiation
is considered the most severe and dangerous to humans due to its high kinetic energy, so it
typically requires the most significant shielding. Materials with low atomic numbers (water,
carbon, lithium, etc.) that can slow neutrons down usually offer the most effective shielding.