Kr80

Kr-80, or 80Kr, is a stable isotope of the noble gas krypton (element symbol Kr). It has 36 protons and 44 neutrons, giving it a mass number of 80. The nucleus is even-even, and its ground-state spin and parity are 0+.

Natural occurrence and abundance: Kr-80 is one of the isotopes found in natural krypton. It has a small but nonzero abundance, typically around a few percent of the krypton in atmospheric and geological samples.

Stability and decay: Because Kr-80 is stable, it does not undergo radioactive decay and has an effectively infinite half-life.

Origin and nucleosynthesis: The abundance of Kr-80 in the solar system reflects nucleosynthetic processes in stars, including slow (s-process) and rapid (r-process) neutron capture. Its presence in Earth's atmosphere and minerals is the result of these stellar contributions and subsequent geological fractionation.

Analytical and scientific use: Kr-80 is studied in isotopic analyses of krypton for geochemistry, atmospheric science, and tracer applications. Its inert nature, like other krypton isotopes, makes Kr-80 useful in high-precision mass spectrometry and noble-gas research. However, it does not have widespread industrial or medical applications on its own.

Safety: Krypton is a noble gas and is chemically inert. Stable isotopes such as Kr-80 pose no radiological hazard and are generally non-toxic, though krypton gas can act asphyxiant in atmospheric concentrations if inhaled in large volumes.

See also: Krypton, Krypton isotopes, Isotopic analysis.