Isotopes of magnesium

Isotope data
magnesium symbol icon

The Magnesium isotopes Mg-25 and Mg-26 are used to study the absorption and metabolism of Mg in the human body and they are also used for heart disease studies. Mg-25 is also used for the production of the radioisotope Na-22. Magnesium isotopes can be obtained from Trace Sciences International.

Naturally occurring isotopes

This table shows information about naturally occuring isotopes, their atomic masses, their natural abundances, their nuclear spins, and their magnetic moments. Further data for radioisotopes (radioactive isotopes) of magnesium are listed (including any which occur naturally) below.
Isotope Atomic mass (ma/u) Natural abundance (atom %) Nuclear spin (I) Magnetic moment (μ/μN)
24Mg 23.9850423 (8) 78.99 (4) 0 0
25Mg 24.9858374 (8) 10.00 (1) 5/2 -0.85546
26Mg 25.9825937 (8) 11.01 (3) 0 0

Isotopic abundances of Mg
In the above picture, the most intense ion is set to 100% since this corresponds best to the output from a mass spectrometer. This is not to be confused with the relative percentage isotope abundances which total 100% for all the naturally occurring isotopes.

Radiosotope data

Further data for naturally occuring isotopes of magnesium are listed above. This table gives information about some radiosotopes of magnesium, their masses, their half-lives, their modes of decay, their nuclear spins, and their nuclear magnetic moments.
Isotope Mass Half-life Mode of decay Nuclear spin Nuclear magnetic moment
22Mg 21.999574 3.86 s EC to 22Na 0
23Mg 22.994124 11.32 s EC to 23Na 3/2 0.536
27Mg 26.984341 9.45 m β- to 27Al 1/2
28Mg 27.983876 21.0 h β- to 28Al 0
29Mg 28.98855 1.3 s β- to 29Al 3/2

Sheffield ChemPuter isotope pattern calculator

You can use WebElements to calculate an isotope pattern for an arbitrary chemical formula:

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References

  1. Naturally occurring isotope abundances: Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances report for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Isotopic Compositions of the Elements 1989, Pure and Applied Chemistry, 1998, 70, 217. [Copyright 1998 IUPAC]
  2. Masses, nuclear spins, and magnetic moments: I. Mills, T. Cvitas, K. Homann, N. Kallay, and K. Kuchitsu in Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, 1988. [Copyright 1988 IUPAC]
  3. For further information about radioisotopes see Jonghwa Chang's (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) Table of the Nuclides

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