Elements By Number of Primordial Isotopes
An even number of protons or of neutrons are more stable (lower binding energy) because of pairing effects, so even-even nuclides are much more stable than odd-odd. One effect is that there are few stable odd-odd nuclides: in fact only five are stable, with another four having half-lives longer than a billion years.
Another effect is to prevent beta decay of many even-even nuclides into another even-even nuclide of the same mass number but lower energy, because decay proceeding one step at a time would have to pass through an odd-odd nuclide of higher energy. (Double beta decay directly from even-even to even-even, skipping over an odd-odd nuclide, is only occasionally possible, and is a process so strongly hindered that it has a half-life greater than a billion times the age of the universe.) This makes for a larger number of stable even-even nuclides, up to three for some mass numbers, and up to seven for some atomic (proton) numbers and at least four for all stable even-Z elements beyond iron except for strontium.
Since a nucleus with an odd number of protons is relatively less stable, odd-numbered elements tend to have fewer stable isotopes. Of the 26 "monoisotopic" elements that have only a single stable isotope, all but one have an odd atomic number — the single exception being beryllium.
Read more about this topic: List Of Elements By Stability Of Isotopes
Famous quotes containing the words elements, number and/or primordial:
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—David Hume (1711–1776)
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—Albert Speer (1905–1981)
“Like Freud, Jung believes that the human mind contains archaic remnants, residues of the long history and evolution of mankind. In the unconscious, primordial “universally human images” lie dormant. Those primordial images are the most ancient, universal and “deep” thoughts of mankind. Since they embody feelings as much as thought, they are properly “thought feelings.” Where Freud postulates a mass psyche, Jung postulates a collective psyche.”
—Patrick Mullahy (b. 1912)