176Yb

176Yb is a stable isotope of the element ytterbium (Z = 70). It has 70 protons and 106 neutrons, giving it a mass number of 176. It is one of the seven naturally occurring stable isotopes of ytterbium.

Nuclear properties of 176Yb reflect that it is an even-even nucleus, so the ground state has total angular momentum I = 0 and positive parity (0+). As a stable isotope, it has no radioactive decay and is not assigned a half-life.

In natural ytterbium, 176Yb occurs with a measurable but moderate abundance, typically around the 12 percent range of the isotopic mix. Its presence contributes to the overall atomic weight of natural ytterbium and is taken into account in high-precision isotopic measurements and alloy formulations.

Production and use: 176Yb can be isolated or enriched from natural ytterbium through standard isotope separation methods, such as mass spectrometry or centrifugation, for research applications. Its stable, spin-0 character makes it useful in certain experimental contexts where hyperfine structure must be minimized, such as some high-precision spectroscopy or optical-physics experiments involving ytterbium.

Applications and research: As a stable isotope with zero nuclear spin, 176Yb is employed in isotopic ratio analysis, calibration materials, and nuclear or atomic physics experiments that require a non-radioactive, spinless ytterbium component. It also serves as part of the natural portfolio of ytterbium isotopes used in materials science and metrological references.

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