Isotopes of lutetium

Isotope data
lutetium symbol icon

Lutetium is generally considered to have two stable isotopes, although strictly speaking Lu-176 is not entirely stable with a half-life of 3.78 x 1010 years. Lu-175 can be used as a yield tracer in the ICP-MS based determination of Pu in urine. Lu-176 is used for the production of radioactive Lu-177 which is a very promising radio-immunotherapy isotope for the treatment of small, soft tumors. Lutetium isotopes can be obtained from Trace Sciences International.

Naturally occurring isotopes

This table shows information about naturally occuring isotopes, their atomic masses, their natural abundances, their nuclear spins, and their magnetic moments. Further data for radioisotopes (radioactive isotopes) of lutetium are listed (including any which occur naturally) below.
Isotope Atomic mass (ma/u) Natural abundance (atom %) Nuclear spin (I) Magnetic moment (μ/μN)
175Lu 174.940770 (3) 97.41 (2) 7/2 2.2327
176Lu 175.942679 (3) 2.59 (2) 7 3.19

Isotopic abundances of Lu
In the above picture, the most intense ion is set to 100% since this corresponds best to the output from a mass spectrometer. This is not to be confused with the relative percentage isotope abundances which total 100% for all the naturally occurring isotopes.

Radiosotope data

Further data for naturally occuring isotopes of lutetium are listed above. This table gives information about some radiosotopes of lutetium, their masses, their half-lives, their modes of decay, their nuclear spins, and their nuclear magnetic moments.
Isotope Mass Half-life Mode of decay Nuclear spin Nuclear magnetic moment
169Lu 168.93765 1.419 d EC to 169Yb 7/2
170Lu 169.93847 2.01 d EC to 170Yb 0
171Lu 170.937910 8.24 d EC to 171Yb 7/2 2.0
172Lu 171.939082 6.70 d EC to 172Yb 4 2.25
173Lu 172.938927 1.37 y EC to 173Yb 7/2 2.3
174Lu 173.940334 3.3 y EC to 174Yb 1 1.9
177Lu 176.943755 6.75 d β- to 177Hf 7/2 2.239

Sheffield ChemPuter isotope pattern calculator

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References

  1. Naturally occurring isotope abundances: Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances report for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Isotopic Compositions of the Elements 1989, Pure and Applied Chemistry, 1998, 70, 217. [Copyright 1998 IUPAC]
  2. Masses, nuclear spins, and magnetic moments: I. Mills, T. Cvitas, K. Homann, N. Kallay, and K. Kuchitsu in Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, 1988. [Copyright 1988 IUPAC]
  3. For further information about radioisotopes see Jonghwa Chang's (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) Table of the Nuclides

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