Tin Tin is a chemical element with the symbol Sn (from la, stannum) and atomic number 50. Tin is a silvery-coloured metal. Tin is soft enough to be cut with little force and a bar of tin can be bent by hand with little effort. When bent, t ...

(₅₀Sn) is the element with the greatest number of stable isotopes (ten; three of them are potentially radioactive but have not been observed to decay), which is probably related to the fact that 50 is a " magic number" of protons. Twenty-nine additional unstable isotopes are known, including the "

doubly magic In nuclear physics, a magic number is a number of nucleons (either protons or neutrons, separately) such that they are arranged into complete Nuclear shell model, shells within the atomic nucleus. As a result, atomic nuclei with a 'magic' number o ...

" tin-100 (¹⁰⁰Sn) (discovered in 1994) and tin-132 (¹³²Sn). The longest-lived radioisotope is ¹²⁶Sn, with a half-life of 230,000 years. The other 28 radioisotopes have half-lives less than a year.

List of isotopes

, - , ⁹⁹SnHeaviest known nuclide with more protons than neutrons , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 49 , 98.94933(64)# , 5# ms , , , 9/2+# , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁰⁰Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2, 99.93904(76) , rowspan=2, 1.1(4) s
.94(+54−27) s, β⁺ (83%) , ¹⁰⁰In , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (17%) , ⁹⁹Cd , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁰¹Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 51 , rowspan=2, 100.93606(32)# , rowspan=2, 3(1) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰¹In , rowspan=2, 5/2+# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁰⁰Cd , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁰²Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 52 , rowspan=2, 101.93030(14) , rowspan=2, 4.5(7) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰²In , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁰¹Cd , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^102mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2017(2) keV , 720(220) ns , , , (6+) , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁰³Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 53 , rowspan=2, 102.92810(32)# , rowspan=2, 7.0(6) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰³In , rowspan=2, 5/2+# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁰²Cd , - , ¹⁰⁴Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 54 , 103.92314(11) , 20.8(5) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁴In , 0+ , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹⁰⁵Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 55 , rowspan=2, 104.92135(9) , rowspan=2, 34(1) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁵In , rowspan=2, (5/2+) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺, p (rare) , ¹⁰⁴Cd , - , ¹⁰⁶Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 56 , 105.91688(5) , 115(5) s , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁶In , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁰⁷Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 57 , 106.91564(9) , 2.90(5) min , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁷In , (5/2+) , , , - , ¹⁰⁸Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 58 , 107.911925(21) , 10.30(8) min , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁸In , 0+ , , , - , ¹⁰⁹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 59 , 108.911283(11) , 18.0(2) min , β⁺ , ¹⁰⁹In , 5/2(+) , , , - , ¹¹⁰Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 60 , 109.907843(15) , 4.11(10) h , EC , ¹¹⁰In , 0+ , , , - , ¹¹¹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 61 , 110.907734(7) , 35.3(6) min , β⁺ , ¹¹¹In , 7/2+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^111mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 254.72(8) keV , 12.5(10) µs , , , 1/2+ , , , - , ¹¹²Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 62 , 111.904818(5) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to decay by β⁺β⁺ to ¹¹²Cd , 0+ , 0.0097(1) , , - , ¹¹³Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 63 , 112.905171(4) , 115.09(3) d , β⁺ , ¹¹³In , 1/2+ , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , ^113mSn , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 77.386(19) keV , rowspan=2, 21.4(4) min , IT (91.1%) , ¹¹³Sn , rowspan=2, 7/2+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁺ (8.9%) , ¹¹³In , - , ¹¹⁴Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 64 , 113.902779(3) , colspan=3 align=center, StableTheoretically capable of

spontaneous fission Spontaneous fission (SF) is a form of radioactive decay that is found only in very heavy chemical elements. The nuclear binding energy of the elements reaches its maximum at an atomic mass number of about 56 (e.g., iron-56); spontaneous breakdo ...

, 0+ , 0.0066(1) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^114mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 3087.37(7) keV , 733(14) ns , , , 7− , , , - , ¹¹⁵Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 65 , 114.903342(3) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 1/2+ , 0.0034(1) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^115m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 612.81(4) keV , 3.26(8) µs , , , 7/2+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^115m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 713.64(12) keV , 159(1) µs , , , 11/2− , , , - , ¹¹⁶Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 66 , 115.901741(3) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.1454(9) , , - , ¹¹⁷Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 67 , 116.902952(3) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 1/2+ , 0.0768(7) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^117m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 314.58(4) keV , 13.76(4) d , IT , ¹¹⁷Sn , 11/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^117m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2406.4(4) keV , 1.75(7) µs , , , (19/2+) , , , - , ¹¹⁸Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 68 , 117.901603(3) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.2422(9) , , - , ¹¹⁹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 69 , 118.903308(3) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 1/2+ , 0.0859(4) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^119m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 89.531(13) keV , 293.1(7) d , IT , ¹¹⁹Sn , 11/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^119m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2127.0(10) keV , 9.6(12) µs , , , (19/2+) , , , - , ¹²⁰Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 70 , 119.9021947(27) , colspan=3 align=center, Stable , 0+ , 0.3258(9) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^120m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2481.63(6) keV , 11.8(5) µs , , , (7−) , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^120m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2902.22(22) keV , 6.26(11) µs , , , (10+)# , , , - , ¹²¹Sn

Fission product Nuclear fission products are the atomic fragments left after a large atomic nucleus undergoes nuclear fission. Typically, a large nucleus like that of uranium fissions by splitting into two smaller nuclei, along with a few neutrons, the release ...

, style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 71 , 120.9042355(27) , 27.03(4) h , β⁻ , ¹²¹Sb , 3/2+ , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , ^121m1Sn , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 6.30(6) keV , rowspan=2, 43.9(5) y , IT (77.6%) , ¹²¹Sn , rowspan=2, 11/2− , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻ (22.4%) , ¹²¹Sb , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^121m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1998.8(9) keV , 5.3(5) µs , , , (19/2+)# , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^121m3Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2834.6(18) keV , 0.167(25) µs , , , (27/2−) , , , - , ¹²²Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 72 , 121.9034390(29) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo β⁻β⁻ decay to ¹²²Te , 0+ , 0.0463(3) , , - , ¹²³Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 73 , 122.9057208(29) , 129.2(4) d , β⁻ , ¹²³Sb , 11/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^123m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 24.6(4) keV , 40.06(1) min , β⁻ , ¹²³Sb , 3/2+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^123m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1945.0(10) keV , 7.4(26) µs , , , (19/2+) , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^123m3Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2153.0(12) keV , 6 µs , , , (23/2+) , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^123m4Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2713.0(14) keV , 34 µs , , , (27/2−) , , , - , ¹²⁴Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 74 , 123.9052739(15) , colspan=3 align=center, Observationally StableBelieved to undergo β⁻β⁻ decay to ¹²⁴Te with a half-life over 100×10¹⁵ years , 0+ , 0.0579(5) , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^124m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2204.622(23) keV , 0.27(6) µs , , , 5- , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^124m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2325.01(4) keV , 3.1(5) µs , , , 7− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^124m3Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2656.6(5) keV , 45(5) µs , , , (10+)# , , , - , ¹²⁵Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 75 , 124.9077841(16) , 9.64(3) d , β⁻ , ¹²⁵Sb , 11/2− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^125mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 27.50(14) keV , 9.52(5) min , β⁻ , ¹²⁵Sb , 3/2+ , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹²⁶Sn

Long-lived fission product Long-lived fission products (LLFPs) are radioactive materials with a long half-life (more than 200,000 years) produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium. Because of their persistent radiotoxicity it is necessary to isolate them from man ...

, rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 76 , rowspan=2, 125.907653(11) , rowspan=2, 2.30(14)×10⁵ y , β⁻ (66.5%) , ^126m2Sb , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻ (33.5%) , ^126m1Sb , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^126m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2218.99(8) keV , 6.6(14) µs , , , 7− , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^126m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2564.5(5) keV , 7.7(5) µs , , , (10+)# , , , - , ¹²⁷Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 77 , 126.910360(26) , 2.10(4) h , β⁻ , ¹²⁷Sb , (11/2−) , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^127mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 4.7(3) keV , 4.13(3) min , β⁻ , ¹²⁷Sb , (3/2+) , , , - , ¹²⁸Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 78 , 127.910537(29) , 59.07(14) min , β⁻ , ¹²⁸Sb , 0+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^128mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2091.50(11) keV , 6.5(5) s , IT , ¹²⁸Sn , (7−) , , , - , ¹²⁹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 79 , 128.91348(3) , 2.23(4) min , β⁻ , ¹²⁹Sb , (3/2+)# , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , ^129mSn , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 35.2(3) keV , rowspan=2, 6.9(1) min , β⁻ (99.99%) , ¹²⁹Sb , rowspan=2, (11/2−)# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , IT (.002%) , ¹²⁹Sn , - , ¹³⁰Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 80 , 129.913967(11) , 3.72(7) min , β⁻ , ¹³⁰Sb , 0+ , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^130m1Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1946.88(10) keV , 1.7(1) min , β⁻ , ¹³⁰Sb , (7−)# , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^130m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 2434.79(12) keV , 1.61(15) µs , , , (10+) , , , - , ¹³¹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 81 , 130.917000(23) , 56.0(5) s , β⁻ , ¹³¹Sb , (3/2+) , , , - , rowspan=2 style="text-indent:1em" , ^131m1Sn , rowspan=2 colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 80(30)# keV , rowspan=2, 58.4(5) s , β⁻ (99.99%) , ¹³¹Sb , rowspan=2, (11/2−) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , IT (.0004%) , ¹³¹Sn , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^131m2Sn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 4846.7(9) keV , 300(20) ns , , , (19/2− to 23/2−) , , , - , ¹³²Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 82 , 131.917816(15) , 39.7(8) s , β⁻ , ¹³²Sb , 0+ , , , - , rowspan=2, ¹³³Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 83 , rowspan=2, 132.92383(4) , rowspan=2, 1.45(3) s , β⁻ (99.97%) , ¹³³Sb , rowspan=2, (7/2−)# , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (.0294%) , ¹³²Sb , - , rowspan=2, ¹³⁴Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 84 , rowspan=2, 133.92829(11) , rowspan=2, 1.050(11) s , β⁻ (83%) , ¹³⁴Sb , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n (17%) , ¹³³Sb , - , rowspan=2, ¹³⁵Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 85 , rowspan=2, 134.93473(43)# , rowspan=2, 530(20) ms , β⁻ , ¹³⁵Sb , rowspan=2, (7/2−) , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n , ¹³⁴Sb , - , rowspan=2, ¹³⁶Sn , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 50 , rowspan=2 style="text-align:right" , 86 , rowspan=2, 135.93934(54)# , rowspan=2, 0.25(3) s , β⁻ , ¹³⁶Sb , rowspan=2, 0+ , rowspan=2, , rowspan=2, , - , β⁻, n , ¹³⁵Sb , - , ¹³⁷Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 87 , 136.94599(64)# , 190(60) ms , β⁻ , ¹³⁷Sb , 5/2−# , , , - , ¹³⁸Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 88 , 137.951840(540)# , 140 ms +30-20 , β⁻ , ¹³⁸Sb , , , , - , style="text-indent:1em" , ^138mSn , colspan="3" style="text-indent:2em" , 1344(2) keV , 210(45) ns , , , , , , - , ¹³⁹Sn , style="text-align:right" , 50 , style="text-align:right" , 89 , 137.951840(540)# , 130 ms , β⁻ , ¹³⁹Sb , , ,

Tin-121m

Tin-121m is a radioisotope and nuclear isomer of tin with a

half-life Half-life (symbol ) is the time required for a quantity (of substance) to reduce to half of its initial value. The term is commonly used in nuclear physics to describe how quickly unstable atoms undergo radioactive decay or how long stable ato ...

of 43.9 years. In a normal

thermal reactor A thermal-neutron reactor is a nuclear reactor that uses slow or thermal neutrons. ("Thermal" does not mean hot in an absolute sense, but means in thermal equilibrium with the medium it is interacting with, the reactor's fuel, moderator and struct ...

, it has a very low

fission product yield Nuclear fission splits a heavy nucleus such as uranium or plutonium into two lighter nuclei, which are called fission products. Yield refers to the fraction of a fission product produced per fission. Yield can be broken down by: # Individual i ...

; thus, this isotope is not a significant contributor to nuclear waste. Fast fission or fission of some heavier actinides will produce ^121mSn at higher yields. For example, its yield from U-235 is 0.0007% per thermal fission and 0.002% per fast fission.M. B. Chadwick et al, "Evaluated Nuclear Data File (ENDF) : ENDF/B-VII.1: Nuclear Data for Science and Technology: Cross Sections, Covariances, Fission Product Yields, and Decay Data", Nucl. Data Sheets 112(2011)2887. (accessed at https://www-nds.iaea.org/exfor/endf.htm)

Tin-126

Tin-126 is a radioisotope of tin and one of only seven

long-lived fission product Long-lived fission products (LLFPs) are radioactive materials with a long half-life (more than 200,000 years) produced by nuclear fission of uranium and plutonium. Because of their persistent radiotoxicity it is necessary to isolate them from man ...

s. While tin-126's

of 230,000 years translates to a low specific activity of gamma radiation, its short-lived

decay product In nuclear physics, a decay product (also known as a daughter product, daughter isotope, radio-daughter, or daughter nuclide) is the remaining nuclide left over from radioactive decay. Radioactive decay often proceeds via a sequence of steps ( ...

s, two

isomers In chemistry, isomers are molecules or polyatomic ions with identical molecular formulae – that is, same number of atoms of each element – but distinct arrangements of atoms in space. Isomerism is existence or possibility of isomers. Iso ...

of antimony-126, emit 17 and 40 keV

gamma radiation A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol γ or \gamma), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei. It consists of the shortest wavelength electromagnetic waves, typically s ...

and a 3.67 MeV beta particle on their way to stable tellurium-126, making external exposure to tin-126 a potential concern. ¹²⁶Sn is in the middle of the mass range for fission products. Thermal reactors, which make up almost all current

nuclear power plant A nuclear power plant (NPP) is a thermal power station in which the heat source is a nuclear reactor. As is typical of thermal power stations, heat is used to generate steam that drives a steam turbine connected to a electric generator, generato ...

s, produce it at a very low yield (0.056% for ²³⁵U), since slow neutrons almost always fission ²³⁵U or ²³⁹Pu into unequal halves. Fast fission in a fast reactor or

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

, or fission of some heavy

minor actinide The minor actinides are the actinide elements in used nuclear fuel other than uranium and plutonium, which are termed the major actinides. The minor actinides include neptunium (element 93), americium (element 95), curium (element 96), berkeliu ...

s such as

californium Californium is a radioactive chemical element with the symbol Cf and atomic number 98. The element was first synthesized in 1950 at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (then the University of California Radiation Laboratory), by bombarding ...

, will produce it at higher yields.
ANL factsheet

References

* Isotope masses from: ** * Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from: ** ** * Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from: ** ** ** {{Navbox element isotopes Tin