Isotopes of sulfur

Main isotopes of Chemistry:sulfur (16S) | Iso­tope | Decay

|

| abun­dance | half-life (t1/2) | mode | pro­duct
32S  | 94.99%  | stable
33S  | 0.75%  | stable
34S  | 4.25%  | stable
35S  | trace | 87.37 d | β− | 35Cl
36S  | 0.01%  | stable

34S abundances vary greatly (between 3.96 and 4.77 percent) in natural samples.

Standard atomic weight Ar, standard(S)|

* [32.059, 32.076][1]
* Conventional: 32.06

view * talk * edit

Sulfur (16S) has 23 known isotopes with mass numbers ranging from 27 to 49, four of which are stable: 32S (94.85%), 33S (0.76%), 34S (4.37%), and 36S (0.016%). The preponderance of sulfur-32 is explained by its production from carbon-12 plus successive fusion capture of five helium-4 nuclei in the alpha process of nucleosynthesis.

The main radioisotope 35S is formed from cosmic ray spallation of 40Ar in the atmosphere. Other radioactive isotopes of sulfur are all comparatively short-lived. The next longest-lived radioisotope is sulfur-38, with a half-life of 170 minutes. Isotopes lighter than 32S mostly decay to isotopes of phosphorus or silicon, while 35S and heavier radioisotopes decay to isotopes of chlorine.

The beams of several radioactive isotopes (such as those of 44S) have been studied theoretically within the framework of the synthesis of superheavy elements, especially those ones in the vicinity of the island of stability.[2][3]

When sulfide minerals are precipitated, isotopic equilibration among solids and liquid may cause small differences in the δ34S values of co-genetic minerals. The differences between minerals can be used to estimate the temperature of equilibration. The δ13C and δ34S of coexisting carbonates and sulfides can be used to determine the pH and oxygen fugacity of the ore-bearing fluid during ore formation.[citation needed]

In most forest ecosystems, sulfate is derived mostly from the atmosphere; weathering of ore minerals and evaporites also contribute some sulfur. Sulfur with a distinctive isotopic composition has been used to identify pollution sources, and enriched sulfur has been added as a tracer in hydrologic studies. Differences in the natural abundances can also be used in systems where there is sufficient variation in the 34S of ecosystem components. Rocky Mountain lakes thought to be dominated by atmospheric sources of sulfate have been found to have different δ34S values from oceans believed to be dominated by watershed sources of sulfate.[citation needed]

## Contents

* 1 List of isotopes
* 2 See also
* 3 References
* 4 External links

## List of isotopes

Nuclide
[n 1] | Z | N | Isotopic mass (u)
[n 2][n 3] | Half-life
| Decay
mode
[n 4] | Daughter
isotope
[n 5] | Spin and
parity
[n 6][n 7] | Physics:Natural abundance (mole fraction)

|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|

Excitation energy  | Normal proportion  | Range of variation
27S  | 16  | 11  | 27.018719(26)[4] | 16.3(2) ms  | β+, p (61%)  | 26Si  | (5/2+)  |  |
β+ (36%)  | 27P
β+, 2p (3.0%)  | 25Al
28S  | 16  | 12  | 28.004488(14)[4] | 125(10) ms  | β+ (79.3%)  | 28P  | 0+  |  |
β+, p (20.7%)  | 27Si
29S  | 16  | 13  | 28.996678(14)  | 188(4) ms  | β+ (53.6%)  | 29P  | 5/2+#  |  |
β+, p (46.4%)  | 28Si
30S  | 16  | 14  | 29.98490677(22)  | 1.1798(3) s  | β+ | 30P  | 0+  |  |
31S  | 16  | 15  | 30.97955700(25)  | 2.5534(18) s  | β+ | 31P | 1/2+  |  |
32S[n 8] | 16  | 16  | 31.9720711735(14)  | Stable | 0+  | 0.9485(255)  |
33S  | 16  | 17  | 32.9714589086(14)  | Stable | 3/2+  | 0.00763(20)  |
34S  | 16  | 18  | 33.967867011(47)  | Stable | 0+  | 0.04365(235)  |
35S  | 16  | 19  | 34.969032321(43)  | 87.37(4) d  | β− | 35Cl | 3/2+  | Trace[n 9] |
36S  | 16  | 20  | 35.96708069(20)  | Stable | 0+  | 1.58(17)×10−4 |
37S  | 16  | 21  | 36.97112550(21)  | 5.05(2) min  | β− | 37Cl | 7/2−  |  |
38S  | 16  | 22  | 37.9711633(77)  | 170.3(7) min  | β− | 38Cl  | 0+  |  |
39S  | 16  | 23  | 38.975134(54)  | 11.5(5) s  | β− | 39Cl  | (7/2)−  |  |
40S  | 16  | 24  | 39.9754826(43)  | 8.8(22) s  | β− | 40Cl  | 0+  |  |
41S  | 16  | 25  | 40.9795935(44)  | 1.99(5) s  | β− | 41Cl  | 7/2−#  |  |
42S  | 16  | 26  | 41.9810651(30)  | 1.016(15) s  | β− (>96%)  | 42Cl  | 0+  |  |
β−, n (<1%)  | 41Cl
43S  | 16  | 27  | 42.9869076(53)  | 265(13) ms  | β− (60%)  | 43Cl  | 3/2−  |  |
β−, n (40%)  | 42Cl
43mS  | 320.7(5) keV  | 415.0(26) ns  | IT  | 43S  | (7/2−)  |  |
44S  | 16  | 28  | 43.9901188(56)  | 100(1) ms  | β− (82%)  | 44Cl  | 0+  |  |
β−, n (18%)  | 43Cl
44mS  | 1365.0(8) keV  | 2.619(26) μs  | IT  | 44S  | 0+  |  |
45S  | 16  | 29  | 44.99641(32)#  | 68(2) ms  | β−, n (54%)  | 44Cl  | 3/2−#  |  |
β− (46%)  | 45Cl
46S  | 16  | 30  | 46.00069(43)#  | 50(8) ms  | β− | 46Cl  | 0+  |  |
47S  | 16  | 31  | 47.00773(43)#  | 24# ms
[>200 ns]  |  |  | 3/2−#  |  |
48S  | 16  | 32  | 48.01330(54)#  | 10# ms
[>200 ns]  |  |  | 0+  |  |
49S  | 16  | 33  | 49.02189(63)#  | 4# ms
[>400 ns]  |  |  | 1/2−#  |  |

1. ↑ mS - Excited nuclear isomer.
2. ↑ ( ) - Uncertainty (1σ) is given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits.
3. ↑ # - Atomic mass marked #: value and uncertainty derived not from purely experimental data, but at least partly from trends from the Mass Surface (TMS).
4. ↑ Modes of decay:  IT: | Isomeric transition

|

n: | Neutron emission
p: | Proton emission
5. ↑ Bold symbol as daughter - Daughter product is stable.
6. ↑ ( ) spin value - Indicates spin with weak assignment arguments.
7. ↑ # - Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from trends of neighboring nuclides (TNN).
8. ↑ Heaviest theoretically stable nuclide with equal numbers of protons and neutrons
9. ↑ Cosmogenic

## See also

* Sulfur isotope biogeochemistry

Daughter products other than sulfur

* Isotopes of chlorine
* Isotopes of phosphorus
* Isotopes of silicon
* Isotopes of aluminum

## References

1. ↑ Meija, Juris; Coplen, Tyler B.; Berglund, Michael; Brand, Willi A.; De Bièvre, Paul; Gröning, Manfred; Holden, Norman E.; Irrgeher, Johanna et al. (2016). "Atomic weights of the elements 2013 (IUPAC Technical Report)". Pure and Applied Chemistry 88 (3): 265–91. doi:10.1515/pac-2015-0305.
2. ↑ Zagrebaev, Valery; Greiner, Walter (2008-09-24). "Synthesis of superheavy nuclei: A search for new production reactions". Physical Review C 78 (3). doi:10.1103/PhysRevC.78.034610. Bibcode: 2008PhRvC..78c4610Z. https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevC.78.034610.
3. ↑ Zhu, Long (2019-12-01). "Possibilities of producing superheavy nuclei in multinucleon transfer reactions based on radioactive targets *". Chinese Physics C 43 (12). doi:10.1088/1674-1137/43/12/124103. ISSN 1674-1137. Bibcode: 2019ChPhC..43l4103Z. https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1674-1137/43/12/124103.
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chen, Z. Y.; Yan, X. L.; Hou, S. Q.; Liu, J. B.; Shi, J. Y.; Zhou, X. H.; Zhang, Y. H.; Wang, M. et al. (1 December 2025). "Precision Mass Measurement of 26 P and 27 S and Their Impact on the 26 P( p , γ ) 27 S Reaction in Stellar X-Ray Bursts". The Astrophysical Journal 994 (2): 270. doi:10.3847/1538-4357/ae1470.

## External links

* Sulfur isotopes data from The Berkeley Laboratory Isotopes Project's

Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter has terminated with signal "24".

Lua error: Internal error: The interpreter has terminated with signal "24".

Retrieved from "https://handwiki.org/wiki/index.php?title=Physics:Isotopes_of_sulfur&oldid=4335004"