Decay Simulator: Thallium-177

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Thallium-177 18 ms
• Gold-173 26.3 ms · 73.0%
• Iridium-169 353 ms · 73.0%
• Rhenium-165 1.6 s · 38.7%
• Osmium-169 3.4 s · 34.3%
• Tungsten-165 5.1 s · 38.0%
• Rhenium-169 8.1 s · 29.6%
• Tantalum-165 31.0 s · 37.9%
• Hafnium-165 76 s · 37.9%
• Lutetium-165 10.74 min · 37.9%
• Ytterbium-165 9.8 min · 37.9%
• Tungsten-169 70 s · 29.6%
• Tantalum-169 4.9 min · 29.6%
• Hafnium-169 3.25 min · 29.6%
• Lutetium-169 34.06 h · 29.6%
• Mercury-176 20 ms · 27.0%
• Platinum-172 97.4 ms · 25.4%
• Osmium-168 2.1 s · 24.6%
• Tungsten-164 6.34 s · 11.1%
• Tantalum-161 unknown · 5.4%
• Gold-176 1.05 s · 1.6%
• Iridium-172 4.4 s · 1.7%
• Rhenium-168 4.4 s · 13.6%
• Tantalum-164 14.2 s · 10.7%
• Platinum-176 6.32 s · 0.68%
• Osmium-172 19.2 s · 1.9%
• Tungsten-168 50.9 s · 13.6%
• Tantalum-168 2.0 min · 13.6%
• Hafnium-168 25.95 min · 13.6%
• Lutetium-168 5.5 min · 13.6%
• Hafnium-164 111 s · 10.7%
• Lutetium-164 3.15 min · 10.7%
• Ytterbium-164 75.8 min · 10.7%
• Hafnium-160 13.6 s · 0.42%
• Lutetium-160 36.1 s · 0.42%
• Ytterbium-160 4.8 min · 0.42%
• Thulium-160 9.4 min · 0.42%
• Iridium-176 8.9 s · 0.41%
• Rhenium-172 15 s · 1.9%
• Tungsten-172 6.6 min · 1.9%
• Tantalum-172 36.8 min · 1.9%
• Hafnium-172 1.87 a · 1.9%
• Osmium-176 3.6 min · 0.4%
• Rhenium-176 5.3 min · 0.4%
• Tungsten-176 2.5 h · 0.4%
• Tantalum-176 8.08 h · 0.4%
• Hafnium-161 18.4 s · 0.038%
• Lutetium-161 77 s · 0.038%
• Ytterbium-161 4.2 min · 0.038%
• Thulium-161 30.2 min · 0.038%

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 - 10.

• Ytterbium-156 25.0 s · 0.0029%
• Thulium-156 83 s · 0.0027%
• Erbium-156 19.5 min · 0.0027%
• Erbium-152 10.2 s · 2.9×10⁻⁴%
• Dysprosium-148 3.2 min · 2.7×10⁻⁴%
• Ytterbium-157 38.6 s · 1.1×10⁻⁴%
• Thulium-157 3.63 min · 1.1×10⁻⁴%
• Erbium-157 18.65 min · 1.1×10⁻⁴%
• Holmium-152 147 s · 3.1×10⁻⁵%
• Holmium-153 2.01 min · 8.5×10⁻¹⁰%

Showing 60 of 105 nuclides in the series.

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.