Naturally occurring barium (56 Ba) is a mix of six stable isotopes and one very long-lived radioactive primordial isotope, barium-130, identified as being unstable by geochemical means (from analysis of the presence of its daughter xenon-130 in rocks) in 2001.[ 4] This nuclide decays by double electron capture (absorbing two electrons and emitting two neutrinos), with a half-life of (0.5–2.7)×1021 years (about 1011 times the age of the universe).
There are a total of thirty-three known radioisotopes in addition to 130 Ba. The longest-lived of these is 133 Ba, which has a half-life of 10.51 years. All other radioisotopes have half-lives shorter than two weeks. The longest-lived isomer is 133m Ba, which has a half-life of 38.9 hours. The shorter-lived 137m Ba (half-life 2.55 minutes) arises as the decay product of the common fission product caesium-137 .
Barium-114 is predicted to undergo cluster decay , emitting a nucleus of stable 12 C to produce 102 Sn. However this decay is not yet observed; the upper limit on the branching ratio of such decay is 0.0034%.
List of isotopes
Nuclide[ n 1]
Z
N
Isotopic mass (Da ) [ 5] [ n 2] [ n 3]
Half-life [ 1]
Decay mode [ 1] [ n 4]
Daughter isotope [ n 5] [ n 6]
Spin andparity [ 1] [ n 7] [ n 8]
Natural abundance (mole fraction)
Excitation energy
Normal proportion[ 1]
Range of variation
114 Ba
56
58
113.95072(11)
460(125) ms
β+ (79%)
114 Cs
0+
α (0.9%)
110 Xe
β+ , p (20%)
113 Xe
CD (<.0034%)
102 Sn, 12 C
115 Ba
56
59
114.94748(22)#
0.45(5) s
β+
115 Cs
5/2+#
β+ , p (>15%)
114 Xe
116 Ba
56
60
115.94162(22)#
1.3(2) s
β+ (97%)
116 Cs
0+
β+ , p (3%)
115 Xe
117 Ba
56
61
116.93832(27)
1.75(7) s
β+ (87%)
117 Cs
(3/2+)
β+ , p (13%)
116 Xe
β+ , α (0.024%)
113 I
118 Ba
56
62
117.93323(22)#
5.2(2) s
β+
118 Cs
0+
119 Ba
56
63
118.93066(21)
5.4(3) s
β+ (75%)
119 Cs
(3/2+)[ 6]
β+ , p (25%)
118 Xe
119m Ba[ 6]
66.0 keV
360(20) ns
IT
119 Ba
(5/2−)
120 Ba
56
64
119.92604(32)
24(2) s
β+
120 Cs
0+
121 Ba
56
65
120.92405(15)
29.7(15) s
β+ (99.98%)
121 Cs
5/2+
β+ , p (0.02%)
120 Xe
122 Ba
56
66
121.91990(3)
1.95(15) min
β+
122 Cs
0+
123 Ba
56
67
122.918781(13)
2.7(4) min
β+
123 Cs
5/2+
123m Ba
120.95(8) keV
830(60) ns
IT
123 Ba
1/2+#
124 Ba
56
68
123.915094(13)
11.0(5) min
β+
124 Cs
0+
125 Ba
56
69
124.914472(12)
3.3(3) min
β+
125 Cs
1/2+
125m Ba
120(20)# keV
2.76(14) μs
IT
125 Ba
(7/2−)
126 Ba
56
70
125.911250(13)
100(2) min
β+
126 Cs
0+
127 Ba
56
71
126.911091(12)
12.7(4) min
β+
127 Cs
1/2+
127m Ba
80.32(11) keV
1.93(7) s
IT
127 Ba
7/2−
128 Ba
56
72
127.9083524(17)
2.43(5) d
EC
128 Cs
0+
129 Ba
56
73
128.908683(11)
2.23(11) h
β+
129 Cs
1/2+
129m Ba
8.42(6) keV
2.135(10) h
β+
129 Cs
7/2+
IT
129 Ba
130 Ba[ n 9]
56
74
129.9063260(3)
≈ 1×1021 y
2EC ?
130 Xe
0+
0.0011(1)
130m Ba
2475.12(18) keV
9.54(14) ms
IT
130 Ba
8−
131 Ba
56
75
130.9069463(4)
11.52(1) d
β+
131 Cs
1/2+
131m Ba
187.995(9) keV
14.26(9) min
IT
131 Ba
9/2−
132 Ba
56
76
131.9050612(11)
Observationally Stable [ n 10]
0+
0.0010(1)
133 Ba
56
77
132.9060074(11)
10.5379(16) y
EC
133 Cs
1/2+
133m Ba
288.252(9) keV
38.90(6) h
IT (99.99%)
133 Ba
11/2−
EC (0.0104%)
133 Cs
134 Ba
56
78
133.90450825(27)
Stable
0+
0.0242(15)
134m Ba
2957.2(5) keV
2.61(13) μs
IT
134 Ba
10+
135 Ba
56
79
134.90568845(26)
Stable
3/2+
0.0659(10)
135m1 Ba
268.218(20) keV
28.11(2) h
IT
135 Ba
11/2−
135m2 Ba
2388.0(5) keV
1.06(4) ms
IT
135 Ba
(23/2+)
136 Ba
56
80
135.90457580(26)
Stable
0+
0.0785(24)
136m1 Ba
2030.535(18) keV
308.4(19) ms
IT
136 Ba
7−
136m2 Ba
3357.19(25) keV
91(2) ns
IT
136 Ba
10+
137 Ba
56
81
136.90582721(27)
Stable
3/2+
0.1123(23)
137m1 Ba
661.659(3) keV
2.552(1) min
IT
137 Ba
11/2−
137m2 Ba
2349.1(5) keV
589(20) ns
IT
137 Ba
(19/2−)
138 Ba[ n 11]
56
82
137.90524706(27)
Stable
0+
0.7170(29)
138m Ba
2090.536(21) keV
850(100) ns
IT
138 Ba
6+
139 Ba[ n 11]
56
83
138.90884116(27)
82.93(9) min
β−
139 La
7/2−
140 Ba[ n 11]
56
84
139.910608(8)
12.7534(21) d
β−
140 La
0+
141 Ba[ n 11]
56
85
140.914404(6)
18.27(7) min
β−
141 La
3/2−
142 Ba[ n 11]
56
86
141.916433(6)
10.6(2) min
β−
142 La
0+
143 Ba[ n 11]
56
87
142.920625(7)
14.5(3) s
β−
143 La
5/2−
144 Ba[ n 11]
56
88
143.922955(8)
11.73(8) s
β−
144 La
0+
145 Ba
56
89
144.927518(9)
4.31(16) s
β−
145 La
5/2−
146 Ba
56
90
145.9303632(19)
2.15(4) s
β−
146 La
0+
147 Ba
56
91
146.935304(21)
893(1) ms
β− (99.93%)
147 La
5/2−
β− , n (0.07%)
146 La
148 Ba
56
92
147.9382230(16)
620(5) ms
β− (99.6%)
148 La
0+
β− , n (0.4%)
147 La
149 Ba
56
93
148.9432840(27)
349(4) ms
β− (96.1%)
149 La
3/2−#
β− , n (3.9%)
148 La
150 Ba
56
94
149.946441(6)
258(5) ms
β− (99.0%)
150 La
0+
β− , n (1.0%)
149 La
151 Ba
56
95
150.95176(43)#
167(5) ms
β−
151 La
3/2−#
β− , n?
150 La
152 Ba
56
96
151.95533(43)#
139(8) ms
β−
152 La
0+
β− , n?
151 La
153 Ba
56
97
152.96085(43)#
113(39) ms
β−
153 La
5/2−#
β− , n?
152 La
β− , 2n?
151 La
154 Ba
56
98
153.96466(54)#
53(48) ms
β−
154 La
0+
This table header & footer:
^ m Ba – Excited nuclear isomer .
^ ( ) – Uncertainty (1σ ) is given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits.
^ # – Atomic mass marked #: value and uncertainty derived not from purely experimental data, but at least partly from trends from the Mass Surface (TMS).
^
Modes of decay:
^ Bold italics symbol as daughter – Daughter product is nearly stable.
^ Bold symbol as daughter – Daughter product is stable.
^ ( ) spin value – Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
^ # – Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
^ Primordial radioisotope
^ Believed to undergo β+ β+ decay to 132 Xe with a half-life over 3×1020 years
^ a b c d e f g Fission product
References
^ a b c d e Kondev, F. G.; Wang, M.; Huang, W. J.; Naimi, S.; Audi, G. (2021). "The NUBASE2020 evaluation of nuclear properties" (PDF) . Chinese Physics C . 45 (3): 030001. doi :10.1088/1674-1137/abddae .
^ "Standard Atomic Weights: Barium" . CIAAW . 1985.
^ Prohaska, Thomas; Irrgeher, Johanna; Benefield, Jacqueline; Böhlke, John K.; Chesson, Lesley A.; Coplen, Tyler B.; Ding, Tiping; Dunn, Philip J. H.; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Meijer, Harro A. J. (2022-05-04). "Standard atomic weights of the elements 2021 (IUPAC Technical Report)" . Pure and Applied Chemistry . doi :10.1515/pac-2019-0603 . ISSN 1365-3075 .
^ Meshik, A.P.; Hohenberg, C.M.; Pravdivtseva, O.V.; Kapusta, Y.S. (2001). "Weak decay of 130 Ba and 132 Ba: Geochemical measurements" . Physical Review C . 64 (3): 035205–1–035205–6. Bibcode :2001PhRvC..64c5205M . doi :10.1103/PhysRevC.64.035205 .
^ Wang, Meng; Huang, W.J.; Kondev, F.G.; Audi, G.; Naimi, S. (2021). "The AME 2020 atomic mass evaluation (II). Tables, graphs and references*". Chinese Physics C . 45 (3): 030003. doi :10.1088/1674-1137/abddaf .
^ a b Zheng, K. K.; Petrache, C. M.; Zhang, Z. H.; Astier, A.; Lv, B. F.; Greenlees, P. T.; Grahn, T.; Julin, R.; Juutinen, S.; Luoma, M.; Ojala, J.; Pakarinen, J.; Partanen, J.; Rahkila, P.; Ruotsalainen, P.; Sandzelius, M.; Sarén, J.; Tann, H.; Uusitalo, J.; Zimba, G.; Cederwall, B.; Aktas, ö.; Ertoprak, A.; Zhang, W.; Guo, S.; Liu, M. L.; Zhou, X. H.; Kuti, I.; Nyakó, B. M.; Sohler, D.; Timár, J.; Andreoiu, C.; Doncel, M.; Joss, D. T.; Page, R. D. (30 July 2021). "Neutron excitations in Ba 119" (PDF) . Physical Review C . 104 (1). doi :10.1103/PhysRevC.104.014326 .
Isotope masses from:
Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from:
"News & Notices: Standard Atomic Weights Revised" . International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry . 19 October 2005.
Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources.
Audi, Georges; Bersillon, Olivier; Blachot, Jean; Wapstra, Aaldert Hendrik (2003), "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties" , Nuclear Physics A , 729 : 3– 128, Bibcode :2003NuPhA.729....3A , doi :10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001
National Nuclear Data Center . "NuDat 2.x database" . Brookhaven National Laboratory .
Holden, Norman E. (2004). "11. Table of the Isotopes". In Lide, David R. (ed.). CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). Boca Raton, Florida : CRC Press . ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9 .
Half-life of 130 Ba from:
Group
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
Period
Hydrogen and alkali metals
Alkaline earth metals
Pnictogens
Chalcogens
Halogens
Noble gases
①
1
2
②
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
③
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
④
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
⑤
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
⑥
55
56
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
⑦
87
88
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
⑧
119
120
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102