Nickel-56

Properties and data of the isotope ⁵⁶Ni.

Contents

General Data

Radioactive Decay

Parent Nuclides

Isotones und Isobares

Literature

Nickel-56 is a radioisotope of the chemical element Nickel, which, in addition to the element-specific 28 protons, has 28 neutrons in the atomic nucleus, resulting in the mass number 56. The very short-lived, unstable and therefore radioactive nuclide, which can only be produced artificially, has no practical significance from a technical point of view; The study of ⁵⁶Ni is exclusively for academic purposes.

Nickel-56 is produced in large quantities in stellar explosions: The isotope can be detected indirectly in the light emitted by a supernova (of a certain type) using the spectra of the radioactive decay products (see below).

The nuclide has a double magic atomic nucleus with 28 neutrons and protons.

General data

Name of the isotope:Nickel-56; Ni-56Symbol:⁵⁶Ni or 5628NiMass number A:56 (= number of nucleons)Atomic number Z:28 (= number of protons)Neutrons N:28Isotopic mass:55.9421278(4) u (atomic weight of Nickel-56)Nuclide mass:55.926768 u (calculated nuclear mass without electrons)Mass excess:-53.90761 MeVMass defect:0.51959074400001 u (per nucleus)Nuclear binding energy:483.99566049 MeV (per nucleus)
8.64277965 MeV (average binding energy per nucleon)Separation energy:S_N = 16.6430(7) MeV (first neutron)
S_P = 7.1666(3) MeV (first proton)Half-life:6.075(10) dDecay constant λ:1.320582191281 × 10^-6 s^-1Specific activity α:1.445951267822 × 10⁺¹⁶ Bq g^-1
390797.63995197 Ci g^-1Spin and parity:
(nuclear angular momentum)0+Magnetic dipole moment:μ(μ_N) = - 0.7975(14)Charge radius:3.7226(03) femtometer fmMatter radius:3.74 femtometer fmYear of discovery:1952

Radioactive Decay

Half-life T_½ = 6.075(10) d respectively 5.24880 × 10⁵ seconds s.

Decay mode	Daughter	Probability	Decay energy	γ energy (intensity)
EC/β⁺	⁵⁶Co	100 %	2.1329(6) MeV

Parent Nuclides

Direct parent isotopes are: ⁵⁶Cu, ⁵⁷Zn, ⁶⁰Ga.

Isotones and Isobars

The following table shows the atomic nuclei that are isotonic (same neutron number N = 28) and isobaric (same nucleon number A = 56) with Nickel-56. Naturally occurring isotopes are marked in green; light green = naturally occurring radionuclides.

Z	Isotone N = 28	Isobar A = 56
11	³⁹Na
12	⁴⁰Mg
13	⁴¹Al
14	⁴²Si
15	⁴³P
16	⁴⁴S
17	⁴⁵Cl
18	⁴⁶Ar
19	⁴⁷K	⁵⁶K
20	⁴⁸Ca	⁵⁶Ca
21	⁴⁹Sc	⁵⁶Sc
22	⁵⁰Ti	⁵⁶Ti
23	⁵¹V	⁵⁶V
24	⁵²Cr	⁵⁶Cr
25	⁵³Mn	⁵⁶Mn
26	⁵⁴Fe	⁵⁶Fe
27	⁵⁵Co	⁵⁶Co
28	⁵⁶Ni	⁵⁶Ni
29	⁵⁷Cu	⁵⁶Cu
30	⁵⁸Zn	⁵⁶Zn
31	⁵⁹Ga
32	⁶⁰Ge

External data and identifiers

Adopted Levels, Gammas:NuDat 56Ni

Literature and References

[1] - Mirko Schmid:
Nuclear matter distribution of ⁵⁶Ni measured with EXL.
In: Dissertation, TU Darmstadt, (2015).

[2] - Zsófia Bora et al.:
Initial Ni-56 Masses in Type Ia Supernovae.
In: Publications of the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, (2022), DOI 10.1088/1538-3873/ac63e7.

[3] - Felix Sommer et al.:
Charge Radii of ^55,56Ni Reveal a Surprisingly Similar Behavior at N=28 in Ca and Ni Isotopes.
In: Physical Review Letters, 129, 132501, (2022), DOI 10.1103/PhysRevLett.129.132501.

[4] - M. von Schmid, T. Aumann, S. Bagchi et al.:
Matter radius of the doubly-magic ⁵⁶Ni measured in a storage ring.
In: The European Physical Journal A, 59, 83, (2023), DOI 10.1140/epja/s10050-023-00967-z.