Isotopes of scandium

Naturally-occurring scandium (₂₁Sc) is composed of one stable isotope, ⁴⁵Sc. Twenty-six radioisotopes have been characterized from ³⁷Sc to ⁶³Sc, with the most stable being ⁴⁶Sc with a half-life of 83.76 days, ⁴⁷Sc with a half-life of 3.3492 days, ⁴⁸Sc at 43.67 hours, ⁴⁴Sc at 4.042 hours, and ⁴³Sc at 3.891 hours. All other radioisotopes isotopes have half-lives shorter than an hour, and the majority of these shorter than 15 seconds. This element also has 13 meta states with the most stable being ^44m3Sc (t_1/2 = 58.6 h); this is the lightest isotope with a long-lived isomer.

Quick facts Main isotopes, Decay ...

Isotopes of scandium (₂₁Sc)

Main isotopes^[1]			Decay
Isotope	abundance	half-life (t_1/2)	mode	product
⁴³Sc	synth	3.891 h	β⁺	⁴³Ca
⁴⁴Sc	synth	4.042 h	β⁺	⁴⁴Ca
^44m3Sc	synth	58.61 h	IT	⁴⁴Sc
^44m3Sc	synth	58.61 h	β⁺	⁴⁴Ca
⁴⁵Sc	100%	stable
⁴⁶Sc	synth	83.757 d	β⁻	⁴⁶Ti
⁴⁷Sc	synth	3.3492 d	β⁻	⁴⁷Ti
⁴⁸Sc	synth	43.67 h	β⁻	⁴⁸Ti

Standard atomic weight A_r°(Sc)

44.955907±0.000004^[2]
44.956±0.001 (abridged)^[3]

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The primary decay mode at masses lower than the only stable isotope, ⁴⁵Sc, is beta-plus or electron capture, and the primary mode at masses above it is beta-minus. The primary decay products at atomic weights below ⁴⁵Sc are calcium isotopes and the primary products from higher atomic weights are titanium isotopes.

Scandium-44 has potential medical use for PET imaging.

List of isotopes

More information Nuclide, Z ...

Nuclide ^{[n 1]}	Z	N	Isotopic mass (Da)^[4] ^{[n 2]}^{[n 3]}	Discovery year^[5]^[6]	Half-life^[1] ^{[n 4]}	Decay mode^[1] ^{[n 5]}	Daughter isotope ^{[n 6]}	Spin and parity^[1] ^{[n 7]}^{[n 4]}	Isotopic abundance
Nuclide ^{[n 1]}	Excitation energy			Discovery year^[5]^[6]	Half-life^[1] ^{[n 4]}	Decay mode^[1] ^{[n 5]}	Daughter isotope ^{[n 6]}	Spin and parity^[1] ^{[n 7]}^{[n 4]}	Isotopic abundance
³⁷Sc^[7]	21	16	37.00376(44)	2024		p	³⁶Ca
³⁸Sc^[7]	21	17	37.995002(15)	2024		p	³⁷Ca
³⁹Sc	21	18	38.984785(26)	1988		p	³⁸Ca	7/2−#
⁴⁰Sc	21	19	39.9779673(30)	1955	182.3(7) ms	β⁺ (99.54%)	⁴⁰Ca	4−
						β⁺, p (0.44%)	³⁹K
						β⁺, α (0.017%)	³⁶Ar
⁴¹Sc	21	20	40.969251163(83)	1941	596.3(17) ms	β⁺	⁴¹Ca	7/2−
⁴²Sc	21	21	41.96551669(17)	1955	680.72(26) ms	β⁺	⁴²Ca	0+
^42mSc	616.81(6) keV			1963	61.7(4) s	β⁺	⁴²Ca	7+
⁴³Sc	21	22	42.9611504(20)	1935	3.891(12) h	β⁺	⁴³Ca	7/2−
^43m1Sc	151.79(8) keV			1964	438(5) μs	IT	⁴³Sc	3/2+
^43m2Sc	3123.73(15) keV			1971	472(3) ns	IT	⁴³Sc	19/2−
⁴⁴Sc	21	23	43.9594028(19)	1937	4.0421(25) h	β⁺	⁴⁴Ca	2+
^44m1Sc	67.8679(14) keV			1959	154.8(8) ns	IT	⁴⁴Sc	1−
^44m2Sc	146.1914(20) keV			1964	51.0(3) μs	IT	⁴⁴Sc	0−
^44m3Sc	271.240(10) keV			1938	58.61(10) h	IT (98.80%)	⁴⁴Sc	6+
^44m3Sc	271.240(10) keV			1938	58.61(10) h	β⁺ (1.20%)	⁴⁴Ca	6+
⁴⁵Sc	21	24	44.95590705(71)	1923	Stable			7/2−	1.0000
^45mSc	12.40(5) keV			1964	318(7) ms	IT	⁴⁵Sc	3/2+
⁴⁶Sc	21	25	45.95516703(72)	1936	83.757(14) d	β⁻	⁴⁶Ti	4+
^46m1Sc	52.011(1) keV			1968	9.4(8) μs	IT	⁴⁶Sc	6+
^46m2Sc	142.528(7) keV			1948	18.75(4) s	IT	⁴⁶Sc	1−
⁴⁷Sc	21	26	46.9524024(21)	1945	3.3492(6) d	β⁻	⁴⁷Ti	7/2−
^47mSc	766.83(9) keV			1964	272(8) ns	IT	⁴⁷Sc	(3/2)+
⁴⁸Sc	21	27	47.9522229(53)	1937	43.67(9) h	β⁻	⁴⁸Ti	6+
⁴⁹Sc	21	28	48.9500132(24)	1940	57.18(13) min	β⁻	⁴⁹Ti	7/2−
⁵⁰Sc	21	29	49.9521874(27)	1959	102.5(5) s	β⁻	⁵⁰Ti	5+
^50mSc	256.895(10) keV			1963	350(40) ms	IT (>99%)	⁵⁰Sc	2+
^50mSc	256.895(10) keV			1963	350(40) ms	β⁻ (<1%)	⁵⁰Ti	2+
⁵¹Sc	21	30	50.9535688(27)	1966	12.4(1) s	β⁻	⁵¹Ti	(7/2)−
⁵²Sc	21	31	51.9564962(33)	1980	8.2(2) s	β⁻	⁵²Ti	3(+)
⁵³Sc	21	32	52.958379(19)	1980	2.4(6) s	β⁻	⁵³Ti	(7/2−)
⁵⁴Sc	21	33	53.963029(15)	1990	526(15) ms	β⁻ (84%)	⁵⁴Ti	(3)+
⁵⁴Sc	21	33	53.963029(15)	1990	526(15) ms	β⁻, n (16%)	⁵³Ti	(3)+
^54mSc	110.5(3) keV			1998	2.77(2) μs	IT	⁵⁴Sc	(5+,4+)
⁵⁵Sc	21	34	54.966890(67)	1990	96(2) ms	β⁻ (83%)	⁵⁵Ti	(7/2)−
⁵⁵Sc	21	34	54.966890(67)	1990	96(2) ms	β⁻, n (17%)	⁵⁴Ti	(7/2)−
⁵⁶Sc	21	35	55.97261(28)	1997	26(6) ms	β⁻	⁵⁶Ti	(1+)
^56m1Sc^{[n 8]}	0(100)# keV			2004	75(6) ms	β⁻ (<88%)	⁵⁶Ti	(6+,5+)
^56m1Sc^{[n 8]}	0(100)# keV			2004	75(6) ms	β⁻, n (>12%)	⁵⁵Ti	(6+,5+)
^56m2Sc	775.0(1) keV			2010	290(17) ns	IT	⁵⁶Sc	(4+)
⁵⁷Sc	21	36	56.97705(19)	1997	22(2) ms	β⁻	⁵⁷Ti	7/2−#
⁵⁸Sc	21	37	57.98338(20)	1997	12(5) ms	β⁻	⁵⁸Ti	3+#
^58m1Sc	412.5(3) keV			2021	1185(243) ns	IT	⁵⁸Sc
^58m2Sc	1420.7(22) keV			2020	0.60(13) μs	IT	⁵⁸Sc
⁵⁹Sc	21	38	58.98837(27)	2009	12# ms [>620 ns]			7/2−#
⁶⁰Sc	21	39	59.99512(54)#	2009	10# ms [>620 ns]			3+#
⁶¹Sc	21	40	61.00054(64)#	2009	7# ms [>620 ns]			7/2-#
⁶²Sc	21	41	62.00785(64)#	2018	2# ms [>400 ns]
⁶³Sc^[8]	21	42	63.01403(75)#	2025	1# ms			7/2−#
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[1]
^mSc – Excited nuclear isomer.
[2]
( ) – Uncertainty (1σ) is given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits.
[3]
# – Atomic mass marked #: value and uncertainty derived not from purely experimental data, but at least partly from trends from the Mass Surface (TMS).
[4]
# – Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
[5]
Modes of decay:

IT: Isomeric transition

n: Neutron emission

p: Proton emission
[6]
Bold symbol as daughter – Daughter product is stable.
[7]
( ) spin value – Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
[8]
Order of ground state and isomer is uncertain.

Isotopes of scandium

List of isotopes

See also

References

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