Decay Simulator: Mercury-176

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Mercury-176 20 ms
• Platinum-172 97.4 ms · 94.0%
• Osmium-168 2.1 s · 91.2%
• Tungsten-164 6.34 s · 41.0%
• Gold-176 1.05 s · 6.0%
• Iridium-172 4.4 s · 6.3%
• Rhenium-168 4.4 s · 50.3%
• Tantalum-164 14.2 s · 39.5%
• Platinum-176 6.32 s · 2.5%
• Osmium-172 19.2 s · 7.2%
• Tungsten-168 50.9 s · 50.4%
• Tantalum-168 2.0 min · 50.4%
• Hafnium-168 25.95 min · 50.4%
• Lutetium-168 5.5 min · 50.4%
• Ytterbium-168 stable · 50.4%
• Hafnium-164 111 s · 39.5%
• Lutetium-164 3.15 min · 39.5%
• Ytterbium-164 75.8 min · 39.5%
• Thulium-164 1.95 min · 39.5%
• Erbium-164 stable · 39.5%
• Hafnium-160 13.6 s · 1.6%
• Lutetium-160 36.1 s · 1.5%
• Ytterbium-160 4.8 min · 1.5%
• Thulium-160 9.4 min · 1.5%
• Erbium-160 28.58 h · 1.5%
• Holmium-160 25.6 min · 1.5%
• Dysprosium-160 stable · 1.5%
• Iridium-176 8.9 s · 1.5%
• Rhenium-172 15 s · 7.1%
• Tungsten-172 6.6 min · 7.1%
• Tantalum-172 36.8 min · 7.1%
• Hafnium-172 1.87 a · 7.1%
• Lutetium-172 6.702 d · 7.1%
• Ytterbium-172 stable · 7.1%
• Osmium-176 3.6 min · 1.5%
• Rhenium-176 5.3 min · 1.5%
• Tungsten-176 2.5 h · 1.5%
• Tantalum-176 8.08 h · 1.5%
• Hafnium-176 stable · 1.5%
• Ytterbium-156 25.0 s · 0.011%

Rare branches (below 0.01%)

Rare branches are transformations that occur in fewer than 0.01% of decays, e.g. double beta decay or cluster emission. The nuclides they produce are practically absent from a sample, so they are hidden by default to keep the main path clear. In this series: branches - 3, nuclides - 16.

• Thulium-156 83 s · 0.0098%
• Erbium-156 19.5 min · 0.0098%
• Holmium-156 56 min · 0.0098%
• Dysprosium-156 stable · 0.0098%
• Erbium-152 10.2 s · 0.0011%
• Dysprosium-148 3.2 min · 9.8×10⁻⁴%
• Holmium-152 147 s · 1.2×10⁻⁴%
• Terbium-148 60 min · 1.0×10⁻³%
• Dysprosium-152 2.38 h · 1.0×10⁻⁴%
• Gadolinium-148 87 a · 1.0×10⁻³%
• Samarium-144 stable · 1.0×10⁻³%
• Terbium-152 17.48 h · 1.0×10⁻⁴%
• Gadolinium-152 1.08×10¹⁴ a · 1.0×10⁻⁴%
• Samarium-148 6.8×10¹⁵ a · 1.0×10⁻⁴%
• Neodymium-144 2.29×10¹⁵ a · 1.0×10⁻⁴%
• Cerium-140 stable · 1.0×10⁻⁴%

How to read the simulation

Grid: each pixel is one atom of the starting isotope. When an atom decays, the pixel takes the colour of the decay product - in decay series mode the product can decay further. The moment each atom decays is random, but the probability follows from the half-life, so after one T½ about half of the atoms remain, after two - about a quarter.

Chart N(t): what percentage of the sample atoms each nuclide makes up at a given moment. The line of the starting isotope falls (by half after each T½), the lines of stable products rise, and those of short-lived ones first rise, then fall.

Chart A(t): activity, i.e. the number of decays per second (becquerel, Bq). It depends on the number of atoms and on how fast they decay: for the same number of atoms, the shorter the T½, the higher the activity.

Simulation time runs faster (or slower) than real time - the time scale slider sets the multiplier. This way you can watch the decay of isotopes that live from fractions of a second to billions of years.

Well-known isotopes

• H-3 - Tritium - glowing watch hands, nuclear fusion fuel.
• C-14 - Radiocarbon dating.
• K-40 - Natural radioactivity - in bananas and in our bodies.
• Co-60 - Radiotherapy and radiation sterilization.
• I-131 - Thyroid treatment; Chernobyl fallout.
• Cs-137 - Long-lasting contamination after Chernobyl and Fukushima.
• Rn-222 - Radon in basements and mines.
• Ra-226 - The longest-lived isotope of radium - the element discovered by Marie and Pierre Curie in 1898.
• U-235 - Nuclear power plant fuel; start of the actinium series.
• U-238 - Age of the Earth; start of the uranium series.
• Pu-238 - Power source for space probes (Voyager, Curiosity rover).
• Am-241 - Ionization smoke detectors.