magnesium26

Magnesium26 is an article on Wikipedia. It covers the stable isotope of magnesium with mass number 26. Magnesium-26 is one of the three naturally occurring isotopes of magnesium, along with magnesium-24 and magnesium-25. It is a minor component of naturally occurring magnesium, making up approximately 11.01% of the total.

Isotopes of an element have the same number of protons but different numbers of neutrons. Magnesium has an atomic number of 12, meaning all magnesium atoms have 12 protons. Magnesium-26 has 14 neutrons (26 - 12 = 14), whereas magnesium-24 has 12 neutrons and magnesium-25 has 13 neutrons.

Magnesium-26 is primarily produced through stellar nucleosynthesis, specifically in asymptotic giant branch stars. It can also be formed through the decay of aluminum-26, which is a radioactive isotope. The relative abundance of magnesium-26 in meteorites can be used to study the early solar system and the processes that occurred during its formation. Variations in magnesium-26/magnesium-24 ratios have provided insights into the origins of planetary bodies and the timing of solar system events. While magnesium-26 is not radioactive, its isotopic abundance can be analyzed using mass spectrometry.