Isotopes of silicon
Silicon (Si) has 24 known isotopes, with mass numbers ranging from 22 to 45. 28Si (the most abundant isotope, at 92.23%), 29Si (4.67%), and 30Si (3.1%) are stable. The longest-lived radioisotope is 32Si, which is produced by cosmic ray spallation of argon. Its half-life has been determined to be approximately 150 years (0.21 MeV), and it decays by beta emission to 32P (which has a 14.28 day half-life ) and then to 32S. After 32Si, 31Si has the second longest half-life at 157.3 minutes. All others have half-lives under 7 seconds. The relative atomic mass is 28.0855(3). The least stable is usually 43Si with a half-life greater than 60 nanoseconds.
Table
↑ Bold for stable isotopes
Notes
The precision of the isotope abundances and atomic mass is limited through variations. The given ranges should be applicable to any normal terrestrial material.
Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment arguments are enclosed in parentheses.