Isotopes of tellurium

Naturally occurring tellurium on Earth consists of eight isotopes: 120, 122-126, 128, 130. The heaviest two have been found to be radioactive: ¹²⁸Te and ¹³⁰Te undergo double beta decay with half-lives of, respectively, 7.7×10²⁴ years (the longest half-life of all nuclides proven to be radioactive) and 7.9×10²⁰ years. Artificial radioisotopes of tellurium are known, with atomic masses that range from 104 to 142, of which the most stable is ¹²¹Te with a half-life of 19.31 days. Several nuclear isomers have longer half-lives, the longest being ^121mTe with a half-life of 164.7 days.

The very long-lived radioisotopes ¹²⁸Te and ¹³⁰Te are the two most common isotopes of tellurium. Of elements with at least one stable isotope, only indium and rhenium likewise have a radioisotope in greater abundance than a stable one.

It has been claimed that electron capture of ¹²³Te was observed, but more recent measurements of the same team have disproved this. They have determined the half-life of ¹²³Te to be longer than 9.2 ÃƒÂ— 10¹⁶ years (or 2 ÃƒÂ— 10¹⁵ years without any theoretical assumptions). Its observational stability presents one of only two apparent violations of the Mattauch isobar rule, the other involving ^180mTa.

¹²⁴Te is used as the starting material in the production of certain radionuclides by a cyclotron or other particle accelerator, such as iodine-123 and iodine-124.

With the exception of beryllium, tellurium is the lightest element observed to have isotopes capable of undergoing alpha decay, with isotopes ¹⁰⁴Te to ¹⁰⁹Te being seen to undergo this mode of decay. Some lighter elements, namely those in the vicinity of ⁸Be, have isotopes with delayed alpha emission (following proton or beta emission) as a rare branch.

List of isotopes

|-id=Tellurium-104 | ¹⁰⁴Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 52 | 103.94672(34) | <4&nbsp;ns | α | ¹⁰⁰Sn | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-105 | ¹⁰⁵Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 53 | 104.94363(32)# | 633(66)&nbsp;ns | α | ¹⁰¹Sn | (7/2+) | | |-id=Tellurium-106 | ¹⁰⁶Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 54 | 105.93750(11) | 78(11)&nbsp;μs | α | ¹⁰²Sn | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-107 | rowspan=2|¹⁰⁷Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 55 | rowspan=2|106.934868(18) | rowspan=2|3.22(9)&nbsp;ms | α (70%) | ¹⁰³Sn | rowspan=2|5/2+# | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺ (30%) | ¹⁰⁷Sb |-id=Tellurium-108 | rowspan=4|¹⁰⁸Te | rowspan=4 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=4 style="text-align:right" | 56 | rowspan=4|107.9293805(58) | rowspan=4|2.1(1)&nbsp;s | α (49%) | ¹⁰⁴Sn | rowspan=4|0+ | rowspan=4| | rowspan=4| |- | β⁺ (48.6%) | ¹⁰⁸Sb |- | β⁺, p (2.4%) | ¹⁰⁷Sn |- | β⁺, α (<0.065%) | ¹⁰⁴In |-id=Tellurium-109 | rowspan=4|¹⁰⁹Te | rowspan=4 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=4 style="text-align:right" | 57 | rowspan=4|108.9273045(47) | rowspan=4|4.4(2)&nbsp;s | β⁺ (86.7%) | ¹⁰⁹Sb | rowspan=4|(5/2+) | rowspan=4| | rowspan=4| |- | β⁺, p (9.4%) | ¹⁰⁸Sn |- | α (3.9%) | ¹⁰⁵Sn |- | β⁺, α (<0.0049%) | ¹⁰⁵In |-id=Tellurium-110 | ¹¹⁰Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 58 | 109.9224581(71) | 18.6(8)&nbsp;s | β⁺ | ¹¹⁰Sb | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-111 | rowspan=2|¹¹¹Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 59 | rowspan=2|110.9210006(69) | rowspan=2|26.2(6)&nbsp;s | β⁺ | ¹¹¹Sb | rowspan=2|(5/2)+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺, p (?%) | ¹¹⁰Sn |-id=Tellurium-112 | ¹¹²Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 60 | 111.9167278(90) | 2.0(2)&nbsp;min | β⁺ | ¹¹²Sb | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-113 | ¹¹³Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 61 | 112.915891(30) | 1.7(2)&nbsp;min | β⁺ | ¹¹³Sb | (7/2+) | | |-id=Tellurium-114 | ¹¹⁴Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 62 | 113.912088(26) | 15.2(7)&nbsp;min | β⁺ | ¹¹⁴Sb | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-115 | ¹¹⁵Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 63 | 114.911902(30) | 5.8(2)&nbsp;min | β⁺ | ¹¹⁵Sb | 7/2+ | | |-id=Tellurium-115m1 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^115m1Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 10(6)&nbsp;keV | 6.7(4)&nbsp;min | β⁺ | ¹¹⁵Sb | (1/2+) | | |-id=Tellurium-115m2 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^115m2Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 280.05(20)&nbsp;keV | 7.5(2)&nbsp;μs | IT | ¹¹⁵Te | 11/2− | | |-id=Tellurium-116 | ¹¹⁶Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 64 | 115.908466(26) | 2.49(4)&nbsp;h | β⁺ | ¹¹⁶Sb | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-117 | rowspan=2|¹¹⁷Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 65 | rowspan=2|116.908646(14) | rowspan=2|62(2)&nbsp;min | EC (75%) | rowspan=2|¹¹⁷Sb | rowspan=2|1/2+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺ (25%) |-id=Tellurium-117m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^117mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 296.1(5)&nbsp;keV | 103(3)&nbsp;ms | IT | ¹¹⁷Te | (11/2−) | |-id=Tellurium-118 | ¹¹⁸Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 66 | 117.905860(20) | 6.00(2)&nbsp;d | EC | ¹¹⁸Sb | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-119 | rowspan=2|¹¹⁹Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 67 | rowspan=2|118.9064057(78) | rowspan=2|16.05(5)&nbsp;h | EC (97.94%) | rowspan=2|¹¹⁹Sb | rowspan=2|1/2+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺ (2.06%) |-id=Tellurium-119m | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^119mTe | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 260.96(5)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2|4.70(4)&nbsp;d | EC (99.59%) | rowspan=2|¹¹⁹Sb | rowspan=2|11/2− | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺ (0.41%) |-id=Tellurium-120 | ¹²⁰Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 68 | 119.9040658(19) | colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable | 0+ | 9(1)×10^{−4} | |-id=Tellurium-121 | ¹²¹Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 69 | 120.904945(28) | 19.31(7)&nbsp;d | β⁺ | ¹²¹Sb | 1/2+ | | |-id=Tellurium-121m | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^121mTe | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 293.974(22)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2|164.7(5)&nbsp;d | IT (88.6%) | ¹²¹Te | rowspan=2|11/2− | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β⁺ (11.4%) | ¹²¹Sb |-id=Tellurium-122 | ¹²²Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 70 | 121.9030447(15) | colspan=3 align=center|Stable | 0+ | 0.0255(12) | |-id=Tellurium-123 | ¹²³Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 71 | 122.9042710(15) | colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable | 1/2+ | 0.0089(3) | |-id=Tellurium-123m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^123mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 247.47(4)&nbsp;keV | 119.2(1)&nbsp;d | IT | ¹²³Te | 11/2− | | |-id=Tellurium-124 | ¹²⁴Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 72 | 123.9028183(15) | colspan=3 align=center|Stable | 0+ | 0.0474(14) | |-id=Tellurium-125 | ¹²⁵Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 73 | 124.9044312(15) | colspan=3 align=center|Stable | 1/2+ | 0.0707(15) | |-id=Tellurium-125m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^125mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 144.775(8)&nbsp;keV | 57.40(15)&nbsp;d | IT | ¹²⁵Te | 11/2− | | |-id=Tellurium-126 | ¹²⁶Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 74 | 125.9033121(15) | colspan=3 align=center|Stable | 0+ | 0.1884(25) | |-id=Tellurium-127 | ¹²⁷Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 75 | 126.9052270(15) | 9.35(7)&nbsp;h | β^− | ¹²⁷I | 3/2+ | | |-id=Tellurium-127m | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^127mTe | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 88.23(7)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2|106.1(7)&nbsp;d | IT (97.86%) | ¹²⁷Te | rowspan=2|11/2− | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β^− (2.14%) | ¹²⁷I |-id=Tellurium-128 | ¹²⁸Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 76 | 127.90446124(76) | 7.7(4)×10²⁴&nbsp;y | β^−β^− | ¹²⁸Xe | 0+ | 0.3174(8) | |-id=Tellurium-128m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^128mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 2790.8(3)&nbsp;keV | 363(27)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹²⁸Te | (10+) | | |-id=Tellurium-129 | ¹²⁹Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 77 | 128.90659642(76) | 69.6(3)&nbsp;min | β^− | ¹²⁹I | 3/2+ | | |-id=Tellurium-129m | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^129mTe | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 105.51(3)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2 |33.6(1)&nbsp;d | IT (64%) | ¹²⁹Te | rowspan=2 |11/2− | rowspan=2 | | rowspan=2 | |- | β^− (36%) | ¹²⁹I |-id=Tellurium-130 | ¹³⁰Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 78 | 129.906222745(11) | 7.91(21)×10²⁰&nbsp;y | β^−β^− | ¹³⁰Xe | 0+ | 0.3408(62) | |-id=Tellurium-130m1 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^130m1Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 2146.41(4)&nbsp;keV | 186(11)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³⁰Te | 7− | | |-id=Tellurium-130m2 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^130m2Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 2667.2(8)&nbsp;keV | 1.90(8)&nbsp;μs | IT | ¹³⁰Te | (10+) | | |-id=Tellurium-130m3 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^130m3Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 4373.9(9)&nbsp;keV | 53(8)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³⁰Te | (15−) | | |-id=Tellurium-131 | ¹³¹Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 79 | 130.908522210(65) | 25.0(1)&nbsp;min | β^− | ¹³¹I | 3/2+ | | |-id=Tellurium-131m1 | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^131m1Te | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 182.258(18)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2|32.48(11)&nbsp;h | β^− (74.1%) | ¹³¹I | rowspan=2|11/2− | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | IT (25.9%) | ¹³¹Te |-id=Tellurium-131m2 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^131m2Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1940.0(4)&nbsp;keV | 93(12)&nbsp;ms | IT | ¹³¹Te | (23/2+) | | |-id=Tellurium-132 | ¹³²Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 80 | 131.9085467(37) | 3.204(13)&nbsp;d | β^− | ¹³²I | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-132m1 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^132m1Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1774.80(9)&nbsp;keV | 145(8)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³²Te | 6+ | | |-id=Tellurium-132m2 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^132m2Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1925.47(9)&nbsp;keV | 28.5(9)&nbsp;μs | IT | ¹³²Te | 7− | | |-id=Tellurium-132m3 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^132m3Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 2723.3(8)&nbsp;keV | 3.62(6)&nbsp;μs | IT | ¹³²Te | (10+) | | |-id=Tellurium-133 | ¹³³Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 81 | 132.9109633(22) | 12.5(3)&nbsp;min | β^− | ¹³³I | 3/2+# | | |-id=Tellurium-133m1 | rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | ^133m1Te | rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 334.26(4)&nbsp;keV | rowspan=2|55.4(4)&nbsp;min | β^− (83.5%) | ¹³³I | rowspan=2|(11/2−) | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | IT (16.5%) | ¹³³Te |-id=Tellurium-133m2 | style="text-indent:1em" | ^133m2Te | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1610.4(5)&nbsp;keV | 100(5)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³³Te | (19/2−) | | |-id=Tellurium-134 | ¹³⁴Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 82 | 133.9113964(29) | 41.8(8)&nbsp;min | β^− | ¹³⁴I | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-134m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^134mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1691.34(16)&nbsp;keV | 164.5(7)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³⁴Te | 6+ | | |-id=Tellurium-135 | ¹³⁵Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 83 | 134.9165547(18) | 19.0(2)&nbsp;s | β^− | ¹³⁵I | (7/2−) | | |-id=Tellurium-135m | style="text-indent:1em" | ^135mTe | colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1554.89(16)&nbsp;keV | 511(20)&nbsp;ns | IT | ¹³⁵Te | (19/2−) | | |-id=Tellurium-136 | rowspan=2|¹³⁶Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 84 | rowspan=2|135.9201012(24) | rowspan=2|17.63(9)&nbsp;s | β^− (98.63%) | ¹³⁶I | rowspan=2|0+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β^−, n (1.37%) | ¹³⁵I |-id=Tellurium-137 | rowspan=2|¹³⁷Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 85 | rowspan=2|136.9255994(23) | rowspan=2|2.49(5)&nbsp;s | β^− (97.06%) | ¹³⁷I | rowspan=2|3/2−# | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β^−, n (2.94%) | ¹³⁶I |-id=Tellurium-138 | rowspan=2|¹³⁸Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 86 | rowspan=2|137.9294725(41) | rowspan=2|1.46(25)&nbsp;s | β^− (95.20%) | ¹³⁸I | rowspan=2|0+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β^−, n (4.80%) | ¹³⁷I |-id=Tellurium-139 | ¹³⁹Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 87 | 138.9353672(38) | 724(81)&nbsp;ms | β^− | ¹³⁹I | 5/2−# | | |-id=Tellurium-140 | rowspan=2|¹⁴⁰Te | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 52 | rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 88 | rowspan=2|139.939487(15) | rowspan=2|351(5)&nbsp;ms | β^− (?%) | ¹⁴⁰I | rowspan=2|0+ | rowspan=2| | rowspan=2| |- | β^−, n (?%) | ¹³⁹I |-id=Tellurium-141 | ¹⁴¹Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 89 | 140.94560(43)# | 193(16)&nbsp;ms | β^− | ¹⁴¹I | 5/2−# | | |-id=Tellurium-142 | ¹⁴²Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 90 | 141.95003(54)# | 147(8)&nbsp;ms | β^− | ¹⁴²I | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-143 | ¹⁴³Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 91 | 142.95649(54)# | 120(8)&nbsp;ms | β^− | ¹⁴³I | 7/2+# | | |-id=Tellurium-144 | ¹⁴⁴Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 92 | 143.96112(32)# | 93(60)&nbsp;ms | β^− | ¹⁴⁴I | 0+ | | |-id=Tellurium-145 | ¹⁴⁵Te | style="text-align:right" | 52 | style="text-align:right" | 93 | 144.96778(32)# | 75#&nbsp;ms<br />[>550&nbsp;ns] | β^− | ¹⁴⁵I | | |

See also

Daughter products other than tellurium

• Isotopes of xenon
• Isotopes of iodine
• Isotopes of antimony
• Isotopes of tin
• Isotopes of indium

References