Decay Simulator: Thallium-181

General data

Radioactive decay series

• Thallium-181 2.9 s
• Mercury-181 3.6 s · 91.4%
• Gold-181 13.7 s · 69.5%
• Platinum-181 52.0 s · 67.6%
• Iridium-181 4.90 min · 67.5%
• Osmium-181 106 min · 67.5%
• Rhenium-181 20.0 h · 67.5%
• Tungsten-181 120.96 d · 67.5%
• Tantalum-181 stable · 67.5%
• Gold-177 1.45 s · 8.6%
• Platinum-177 10.0 s · 25.9%
• Iridium-177 30 s · 26.3%
• Osmium-177 3.0 min · 26.3%
• Rhenium-177 14 min · 26.3%
• Tungsten-177 132 min · 26.3%
• Tantalum-177 56.56 h · 26.3%
• Hafnium-177 stable · 26.3%
• Iridium-173 9.0 s · 4.6%
• Osmium-173 22.4 s · 6.0%
• Rhenium-173 2.0 min · 5.9%
• Tungsten-173 7.3 min · 5.9%
• Tantalum-173 3.14 h · 5.9%
• Hafnium-173 23.6 h · 5.9%
• Lutetium-173 1.37 a · 5.9%
• Ytterbium-173 stable · 5.9%
• Rhenium-169 8.1 s · 0.16%
• Tungsten-169 70 s · 0.19%
• Tantalum-169 4.9 min · 0.19%
• Hafnium-169 3.25 min · 0.19%
• Lutetium-169 34.06 h · 0.19%
• Ytterbium-169 32.015 d · 0.19%
• Thulium-169 stable · 0.19%
• Platinum-180 56 s · 0.011%
• Iridium-180 1.5 min · 0.011%
• Osmium-180 21.5 min · 0.011%
• Rhenium-180 2.46 min · 0.011%
• Tungsten-180 1.59×10¹⁸ a · 0.011%
• Hafnium-176 stable · 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 - 2, nuclides - 11.

• Osmium-176 3.6 min · 5.7×10⁻⁵%
• Rhenium-176 5.3 min · 5.7×10⁻⁵%
• Tungsten-176 2.5 h · 5.7×10⁻⁵%
• Tantalum-176 8.08 h · 5.7×10⁻⁵%
• Tantalum-165 31.0 s · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Hafnium-165 76 s · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Lutetium-165 10.74 min · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Ytterbium-165 9.8 min · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Thulium-165 30.06 h · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Erbium-165 10.36 h · 8.1×10⁻⁶%
• Holmium-165 stable · 8.1×10⁻⁶%

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.