Iron58

Iron-58 is a stable isotope of iron with mass number 58 (symbol Fe-58 or 58Fe). It has 26 protons and 32 neutrons, and it is one of the four stable iron isotopes found in nature, the others being 54Fe, 56Fe, and 57Fe.

Natural abundance is about 0.28% of iron, making it the least abundant of the stable iron isotopes. Because it is stable, it does not undergo radioactive decay and has a long terrestrial residence time in minerals and meteoritic material.

Nuclear properties: Fe-58 is an even-even nucleus (Z = 26, N = 32), and its ground-state spin is 0+. The binding energy per nucleon for iron-region isotopes is close to 8.8 MeV, giving Fe-58 a high overall binding energy similar to other stable iron isotopes.

Formation and role: Iron-58 is produced in stellar nucleosynthesis during late burning stages and in supernovae, contributing to the abundance of iron-group elements in the universe. In the solar system, its presence among terrestrial iron reflects the integrated history of stellar processing.

Applications and measurement: Isotopic abundances including Fe-58 are measured by mass spectrometry in geology, archaeology, and cosmochemistry to study planetary formation, meteoritic materials, and other geochemical processes. Fe-58 is sometimes used as a calibration reference in isotopic studies; for Mössbauer spectroscopy, Fe-57 is more commonly used because of its favorable nuclear transition.