Isotopes of tungsten explained

Naturally occurring tungsten (74W) consists of five isotopes. Four are considered stable (182W, 183W, 184W, and 186W) and one is slightly radioactive, 180W, with an extremely long half-life of 1.8 ± 0.2 exayears (1018 years). On average, two alpha decays of 180W occur per gram of natural tungsten per year, so for most practical purposes, 180W can be considered stable. Theoretically, all five can decay into isotopes of element 72 (hafnium) by alpha emission, but only 180W has been observed to do so. The other naturally occurring isotopes have not been observed to decay (they are observationally stable), and lower bounds for their half-lives have been established:

182W, t1/2 > 7.7×1021 years

183W, t1/2 > 4.1×1021 years

184W, t1/2 > 8.9×1021 years

186W, t1/2 > 8.2×1021 years

Thirty-four artificial radioisotopes of tungsten have been characterized with mass numbers ranging from 156 to 194, the most stable of which are 181W with a half-life of 121.2 days, 185W with a half-life of 75.1 days, 188W with a half-life of 69.4 days and 178W with a half-life of 21.6 days. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives of less than 24 hours, and most of these have half-lives that are less than 8 minutes. Tungsten also has 11 meta states with mass numbers of 158, 179, with 3, 180, with 2, 183, 185, 186, with 2, and 190, the most stable being 179m1W (t1/2 6.4 minutes).

List of isotopes

|-| 156W[1] | style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 82| | | β+| 156Ta| 0+|||-| 157W[2] | style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 83| | 275(40) ms| β+ | 157Ta| (7/2−)|||-| 158W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 84| 157.97456(54)#| 1.37(17) ms| α| 154Hf| 0+|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 158mW| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1889(8) keV| 143(19) μs| α| 154Hf| 8+|||-| rowspan=2|159W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 85| rowspan=2|158.97292(43)#| rowspan=2|8.2(7) ms| α (82%)| 155Hf| rowspan=2|7/2−#| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| β+ (18%)| 159Ta|-| rowspan=2|160W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 86| rowspan=2|159.96848(22)| rowspan=2|90(5) ms| α (87%)| 156Hf| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| β+ (14%)| 160Ta|-| rowspan=2|161W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 87| rowspan=2|160.96736(21)#| rowspan=2|409(16) ms| α (73%)| 157Hf| rowspan=2|7/2−#| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| β+ (23%)| 161Ta|-| rowspan=2|162W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 88| rowspan=2|161.963497(19)| rowspan=2|1.36(7) s| β+ (53%)| 162Ta| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (47%)| 158Hf|-| rowspan=2|163W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 89| rowspan=2|162.96252(6)| rowspan=2|2.8(2) s| β+ (59%)| 163Ta| rowspan=2|3/2−#| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (41%)| 159Hf|-| rowspan=2|164W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 90| rowspan=2|163.958954(13)| rowspan=2|6.3(2) s| β+ (97.4%)| 164Ta| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (2.6%)| 160Hf|-| rowspan=2|165W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 91| rowspan=2|164.958280(27)| rowspan=2|5.1(5) s| β+ (99.8%)| 165Ta| rowspan=2|3/2−#| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (.2%)| 161Hf|-| rowspan=2|166W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 92| rowspan=2|165.955027(11)| rowspan=2|19.2(6) s| β+ (99.96%)| 166Ta| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (.035%)| 162Hf|-| rowspan=2|167W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 93| rowspan=2|166.954816(21)| rowspan=2|19.9(5) s| β+ (>99.9%)| 167Ta| rowspan=2|3/2−#| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (<.1%)| 163Hf|-| rowspan=2|168W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 94| rowspan=2|167.951808(17)| rowspan=2|51(2) s| β+ (99.99%)| 168Ta| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (.0319%)| 164Hf|-| 169W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 95| 168.951779(17)| 76(6) s| β+| 169Ta| (5/2−)|||-| rowspan=2|170W| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 74| rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" | 96| rowspan=2|169.949228(16)| rowspan=2|2.42(4) min| β+(99%)| 170Ta| rowspan=2|0+| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| α (1%)| 166Hf|-| 171W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 97| 170.94945(3)| 2.38(4) min| β+| 171Ta| (5/2−)|||-| 172W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 98| 171.94729(3)| 6.6(9) min| β+| 172Ta| 0+|||-| 173W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 99| 172.94769(3)| 7.6(2) min| β+| 173Ta| 5/2−|||-| 174W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 100| 173.94608(3)| 33.2(21) min| β+| 174Ta| 0+|||-| 175W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 101| 174.94672(3)| 35.2(6) min| β+| 175Ta| (1/2−)|||-| 176W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 102| 175.94563(3)| 2.5(1) h| EC| 176Ta| 0+|||-| 177W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 103| 176.94664(3)| 132(2) min| β+| 177Ta| 1/2−|||-| 178W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 104| 177.945876(16)| 21.6(3) d| EC| 178Ta| 0+|||-| 179W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 105| 178.947070(17)| 37.05(16) min| β+| 179Ta| (7/2)−|||-| rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" | 179m1W| rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 221.926(8) keV| rowspan=2|6.40(7) min| IT (99.72%)| 179W| rowspan=2|(1/2)−| rowspan=2|| rowspan=2||-| β+ (.28%)| 179Ta|-| style="text-indent:1em" | 179m2W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1631.90(8) keV| 390(30) ns||| (21/2+)|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 179m3W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 3348.45(16) keV| 750(80) ns||| (35/2−)|||-| 180W[3] | style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 106| 179.946704(4)| 1.8(0.2)×1018 y| α| 176Hf| 0+| 0.0012(1)||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 180m1W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1529.04(3) keV| 5.47(9) ms| IT| 180W| 8−|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 180m2W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 3264.56(21) keV| 2.33(19) μs||| 14−|||-| 181W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 107| 180.948197(5)| 121.2(2) d| EC| 181Ta| 9/2+|||-| 182W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 108| 181.9482042(9)| colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable[4] | 0+| 0.2650(16)||-| 183W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 109| 182.9502230(9)| colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable[5] | 1/2−| 0.1431(4)||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 183mW| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 309.493(3) keV| 5.2(3) s| IT| 183W| 11/2+|||-| 184W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 110| 183.9509312(9)| colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable[6] | 0+| 0.3064(2)||-| 185W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 111| 184.9534193(10)| 75.1(3) d| β−| 185Re| 3/2−|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 185mW| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 197.43(5) keV| 1.597(4) min| IT| 185W| 11/2+|||-| 186W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 112| 185.9543641(19)| colspan=3 align=center|Observationally Stable[7] | 0+| 0.2843(19)||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 186m1W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 1517.2(6) keV| 18(1) μs||| (7−)|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 186m2W| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 3542.8(21) keV| >3 ms||| (16+)|||-| 187W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 113| 186.9571605(19)| 23.72(6) h| β−| 187Re| 3/2−|||-| 188W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 114| 187.958489(4)| 69.78(5) d| β−| 188Re| 0+|||-| 189W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 115| 188.96191(21)| 11.6(3) min| β−| 189Re| (3/2−)|||-| 190W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 116| 189.96318(18)| 30.0(15) min| β−| 190Re| 0+|||-| style="text-indent:1em" | 190mW| colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" | 2381(5) keV| <3.1 ms||| (10−)|||-| 191W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 117| 190.96660(21)#| 20# s
[>300&nbsp;ns]||| 3/2−#|||-| 192W| style="text-align:right" | 74| style="text-align:right" | 118| 191.96817(64)#| 10# s
[>300&nbsp;ns]||| 0+||

References

Notes and References

  1. A. D. . Briscoe . R. D. . Page . J. . Uusitalo . et al. . Decay spectroscopy at the two-proton drip line: Radioactivity of the new nuclides 160Os and 156W . Physics Letters B . 47 . 2023 . 138310 . 10.1016/j.physletb.2023.138310. free . 10272/23933 . free .
  2. Bianco . L. . Page . R. D. . Darby . I. G. . Joss . D. T. . Simpson . J. . Al-Khalili . J. S. . Cannon . A. J. . Cederwall . B. . Eeckhaudt . S. . Ertürk . S. . Gall . B. . Hornillos . M. B. Gómez . Grahn . T. . Greenlees . P. T. . Hadinia . B. . Heyde . K. . Jakobsson . U. . Jones . P. M. . Julin . R. . Juutinen . S. . Ketelhut . S. . Labiche . M. . Leino . M. . Leppänen . A. -P. . Nyman . M. . O'Donnell . D. . Paul . E. S. . Petri . M. . Peura . P. . Puurunen . A. . Rahkila . P. . Ruotsalainen . P. . Sandzelius . M. . Sapple . P. J. . Sarén . J. . Scholey . C. . Smirnova . N. A. . Steer . A. N. . Stevenson . P. D. . Suckling . E. B. . Thomson . J. . Uusitalo . J. . Venhart . M. . 3 . Discovery of 157W and 161Os . Physics Letters B . 7 June 2010 . 690 . 1 . 15–18 . 10.1016/j.physletb.2010.04.056 . 2010PhLB..690...15B . 117121162 . 11 June 2023 . en . 0370-2693.
  3. [Primordial nuclide|Primordial]
  4. Believed to undergo α decay to 178Hf with a half-life over 7.7×1021 y
  5. Believed to undergo α decay to 179Hf with a half-life over 4.1×1021 y
  6. Believed to undergo α decay to 180Hf with a half-life over 8.9×1021 y
  7. Believed to undergo α decay to 182Hf or β−β− decay to 186Os with a half-life over 8.2×1021 y

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