Decay Simulator: Rhenium-160

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Rhenium-160 0.612 ms
• Tungsten-159 8.5 ms · 89.0%
• Tantalum-156 106 ms · 11.0%
• Hafnium-155 840 ms · 96.8%
• Lutetium-155 67 ms · 96.8%
• Thulium-151 4.17 s · 85.2%
• Ytterbium-155 1.79 s · 11.6%
• Erbium-151 23.5 s · 95.5%
• Hafnium-156 23 ms · 3.2%
• Ytterbium-152 3.1 s · 3.2%
• Thulium-152 5.2 s · 3.2%
• Erbium-152 10.2 s · 3.2%
• Dysprosium-148 3.2 min · 2.9%
• Thulium-155 21.6 s · 1.3%
• Holmium-151 35.2 s · 95.5%
• Terbium-147 1.64 h · 21.0%
• Erbium-155 5.3 min · 1.3%
• Dysprosium-151 18.0 min · 74.5%
• Terbium-151 17.609 h · 70.4%
• Gadolinium-151 124.5 d · 70.3%
• Europium-151 4.6×10¹⁸ a · 70.3%
• Promethium-147 2.62344 a · 70.3%
• Gadolinium-147 38.06 h · 25.2%
• Europium-147 24.1 d · 25.2%
• Samarium-147 1.068×10¹¹ a · 95.5%
• Holmium-155 48 min · 1.3%
• Dysprosium-155 9.92 h · 1.3%
• Terbium-155 5.32 d · 1.3%
• Gadolinium-155 stable · 1.3%
• Holmium-152 147 s · 0.32%
• Terbium-148 60 min · 2.9%
• Dysprosium-152 2.38 h · 0.28%
• Gadolinium-148 87 a · 2.9%
• Samarium-144 stable · 2.9%
• Terbium-152 17.48 h · 0.28%
• Gadolinium-152 1.08×10¹⁴ a · 0.28%
• Samarium-148 6.8×10¹⁵ a · 0.28%
• Neodymium-144 2.29×10¹⁵ a · 0.28%
• Cerium-140 stable · 0.28%
• Neodymium-143 stable · 95.5%

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 - 1, nuclides - 1.

• Promethium-143 265 d · 5.5×10⁻⁴%

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.