Isotopes of tellurium

Isotope data
tellurium symbol icon

Tellurium has eight stable isotopes (Te-120 and Te-123 are usually considered stable because of their long half lives) and many of them have a medical application. Te-120 is used for the production of I-120g which has an application as a PET and Beta emitting isotope. Te-122 is used in the production of the radioisotope I-122 which is used in gamma imaging. Te-123 is used for the production of radioactive I-123 which is used in thyroid imaging. Te-124 is used for the production of both I-123 and the PET isotope I-124. Finally, Te-130 is used in the research into double Beta decay. Tellurium 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 tellurium are listed (including any which occur naturally) below.
Isotope Atomic mass (ma/u) Natural abundance (atom %) Nuclear spin (I) Magnetic moment (μ/μN)
120Te 119.904048 (21) 0.09 (1) 0
122Te 121.903050 (3) 2.55 (12) 0
123Te 122.9042710 (22) 0.89 (3) 1/2 -0.73679
124Te 123.9028180 (18) 4.74 (14) 0
125Te 124.9044285 (25) 7.07 (15) 1/2 -0.88828
126Te 125.9033095 (25) 18.84 (25) 0
128Te 127.904463 (4) 31.74 (8) 0
130Te 129.906229 (5) 34.08 (62) 0

Isotopic abundances of Te
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 tellurium are listed above. This table gives information about some radiosotopes of tellurium, 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
116Te 115.9084 2.49 h EC to 116Sb 0
117Te 116.90864 1.03 h EC to 117Sb 1/2
118Te 117.90583 6.00 d EC to 118Sb 0
119Te 118.90641 16.0 h EC to 119Sb 1/2 0.25
121Te 120.90494 16.8 d EC to 121Sb 1/2
127Te 126.905217 9.4 h β- to 127I 3/2 0.64
129Te 128.906596 33.6 d β- to 129I 3/2 0.70

Sheffield ChemPuter isotope pattern calculator

You can use WebElements to calculate an isotope pattern for an arbitrary chemical formula:

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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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tellurium atomic number