Neon-20

Properties and data of the isotope ²⁰Ne.

Contents

Neon-20 is a stable isotope of the chemical element neon, which has 10 neutrons in its atomic nucleus in addition to the element-specific 10 protons; the sum of the number of these atomic nucleus building blocks results in a mass number of 20. ²⁰Ne represents by far the largest part of the three Ne isotopes occurring naturally on Earth (90.48%) (see below).

The discovery of neon-20 is attributed to the British Joseph John Thomson, who was the first to describe the observation of an isotope of a stable element (1913) and recognized that neon is composed of different isotopes [1].

See also: List of individual Neon isotopes (and general data sources).

General data

Name of the isotope:Neon-20; Ne-20Symbol:²⁰Ne or 2010NeMass number A:20 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:10 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:10Nucleon pairing (Z - N):even - evenNuclear ratio (N/Z ratio):1 (= neutron-proton ratio)Neutron excess (N-Z):0Isotopic mass:19.99244018(2) u (atomic weight of Neon-20)Nuclide mass:19.9869544 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-7.04193 MeVMass defect:0.1724593 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:160.64480319 MeV (per nucleus)
8.03224016 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 16.86530(16) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 12.84346(0) MeV (first proton)Half-life:stableSpin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Isobaric spin: 0Charge radius:3.0055(21) femtometer fmYear of discovery:1913

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: ²⁰F, ²⁰Na.

Occurrence

Comparison of the natural Neon isotopes including isotopic abundance (mole fraction of the isotope mixture in percent):

	Atomic Mass m_a	Quantity	Half-life	Spin
Neon Isotopic mixture	20.1797 u	100 %
Isotope ²⁰Ne	19.99244018(2) u	90.48(3) % [88.47 - 90.51 %]	stable	0+
Isotope ²¹Ne	20.9938467(3) u	0.27(1) %	stable	3/2+
Isotope ²²Ne	21.9913851(2) u	9.25(3) %	stable	0+

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 10) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 20) with Neon-20. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 10	Isobar A = 20
3	¹³Li
4	¹⁴Be
5	¹⁵B	²⁰B
6	¹⁶C	²⁰C
7	¹⁷N	²⁰N
8	¹⁸O	²⁰O
9	¹⁹F	²⁰F
10	²⁰Ne	²⁰Ne
11	²¹Na	²⁰Na
12	²²Mg	²⁰Mg
13	²³Al	²⁰Al
14	²⁴Si
15	²⁵P
16	²⁶S

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 20Ne

Literature and References

[1] - Joseph John Thomson:
Bakerian Lecture: Rays of positive electricity.
In: Proceedings of the Royal Society A, 89, 607, (1913), DOI 10.1098/rspa.1913.0057.