Oxygen group element - Isotopes, Atomic Mass, Properties

oxygen group element

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Isotopes

inoxygen group element inComparison of properties

Also known as: Group 16 element, Group VIa element, chalcogen element, chalcogenide

Written by Robert C. Brasted

Fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

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Also called:: chalcogen

Related Topics:: sulfur; oxygen; selenium; tellurium; polonium

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The known isotopes of each of the Group 16 elements are listed in the Table. Consistent with a generality observed throughout the periodic system, isotopes of even mass number are more abundant than those of odd mass number. Each member of the group except polonium has several stable isotopes; oxygen-18 and sulfur-35 have been used as tracers in chemical analysis, and polonium-210 serves as a convenient source of alpha particles (nuclei of helium atoms) for nuclear reactors and nuclear batteries.

Isotopes of the oxygen group elements
	stable isotopes		unstable isotopes
	mass	abundance (percentage)	mass	half-life
oxygen	16	99.757	12	5.8 × 10⁻²² second
	17	0.038	13	8.58 milliseconds
	18	0.205	14	70.598 seconds
			15	122.24 seconds
			19	26.464 seconds
			20	13.51 seconds
			21	3.42 seconds
			22	2.25 seconds
			23	82 milliseconds
			24	65 milliseconds
			25	<50 nanoseconds
			26	<40 nanoseconds
			27	<260 nanoseconds
			28	<100 nanoseconds
sulfur	32	94.93	26	<40 nanoseconds
	33	0.76	27	21 milliseconds
	34	4.29	28	125 milliseconds
	36	0.02	29	187 milliseconds
			30	1.178 seconds
			31	2.572 seconds
			35	87.51 days
			37	5.05 minutes
			38	170.3 minutes
			39	11.5 seconds
			40	8.8 seconds
			41	1.99 seconds
			42	1.013 seconds
			43	260 milliseconds
			44	123 milliseconds
			45	82 milliseconds
			46	>200 nanoseconds
			47	>200 nanoseconds
			48	>200 nanoseconds
			49	<200 nanoseconds
selenium	74	0.89	65	<50 milliseconds
	76	9.37	66	33 milliseconds
	77	7.63	67	133 milliseconds
	78	23.77	68	35.5 seconds
	80	49.61	69	27.4 seconds
	82	8.73	70	41.1 minutes
			71	4.74 minutes
			72	8.4 days
			73	7.15 hrs
			75	119.79 days
			79	2.95 × 10⁵ years
			81	18.45 minutes
			82	.83 × 10²⁰ years
			83	22.3 minutes
			84	3.1 minutes
			85	31.7 seconds
			84	3.1 minutes
			85	31.7 seconds
			86	15.3 seconds
			87	5.5 seconds
			88	1.53 seconds
			89	410 milliseconds
			90	>150 nanoseconds
			91	270 milliseconds
			92	>300 nanoseconds
			93	>300 nanoseconds
			94	>300 nanoseconds
tellurium	120	0.09	106	60 microseconds
	122	2.55	107	3.1 milliseconds
	123	0.89	108	2.1 seconds
	124	4.74	109	4.6 seconds
	125	7.07	110	18.6 seconds
	126	18.84	111	19.3 seconds
	128	31.74	112	2 minutes
	130	34.08	113	1.7 minutes
			114	15.2 minutes
			115	5.8 minutes
			116	2.49 hours
			117	62 minutes
			118	6 days
			119	16.05 hours
			121	19.16 days
			123	>6 × 10¹⁴ days
			127	9.35 hours
			128	7.7 × 10²⁴ years
			129	69.6 minutes
			130	>.79 × 10²¹ years
			129	69.6 minutes
			130	>.79 × 10²¹ years
			131	25 minutes
			132	3.204 days
			133	12.5 minutes
			134	41.8 minutes
			135	19 seconds
			136	17.63 seconds
			137	2.49 seconds
			138	1.4 seconds
			139	>150 nanoseconds
			140	>300 nanoseconds
			141	>300 nanoseconds
			142	>300 nanoseconds
polonium			188	.4 millisecond
			189	5 milliseconds
			190	2.46 milliseconds
			191	22 milliseconds
			192	32.2 milliseconds
			193	420 milliseconds
			194	392 milliseconds
			195	4.64 seconds
			196	5.56 seconds
			197	53.6 seconds
			198	1.77 minutes
			199	5.48 minutes
			200	11.5 minutes
			201	15.3 minutes
			202	44.7 minutes
			203	36.7 minutes
			204	3.53 hours
			205	1.66 hours
			206	8.8 days
			207	5.8 hours
			208	2.898 years
			209	102 years
			210	138.376 days
			211	516 milliseconds
			212	299 nanoseconds
			213	4.2 microseconds
			214	164.3 microseconds
			215	1.781 milliseconds
			216	145 milliseconds
			217	1.47 seconds
			218	3.10 minutes
			219	>300 nanoseconds
			220	>300 nanoseconds

Robert C. Brasted