aluminium-26
Also known as Al-26, 26Al, aluminum-26
Aluminium-26 (26Al, Al-26) is a radioactive isotope of the chemical element aluminium, decaying by either positron emission or electron capture to stable magnesium-26. The half-life of 26Al is 717,000 years. This is far too short for the isotope to survive as a primordial nuclide, but a small amount of it is produced by collisions of atoms with cosmic ray protons.
Key facts
- Isotope.mass_number
- 26
- Isotope.symbol
- Al
- Isotope.num_neutrons
- 13
- Isotope.num_protons
- 13
- Isotope.abundance
- trace (cosmogenic)
- Isotope.decay_product
- magnesium-26
- Isotope.spin
- 5+
- Isotope.decay_mode1
- β+
- Isotope.decay_energy1
- 4.004
- Isotope.decay_mode2
- ε
- Isotope.decay_energy2
- 4.004
via Wikipedia infobox
Chemical data
- Formula
Article
6 sectionsContents
- Dating
- Occurrence in the interstellar medium
- Aluminium-26 in the early Solar System
- Metastable state
- See also
- References
Aluminium-26 (26Al, Al-26) is a radioactive isotope of the chemical element aluminium, decaying by either positron emission or electron capture to stable magnesium-26. The half-life of 26Al is 717,000 years. This is far too short for the isotope to survive as a primordial nuclide, but a small amount of it is produced by collisions of atoms with cosmic ray protons.
Decay of aluminium-26 also produces gamma rays and X-rays. The x-rays and Auger electrons are emitted by the excited atomic shell of the daughter 26Mg after the electron capture which typically leaves a hole in one of the lower sub-shells.