# Bromine Isotopes URL: https://sciencestruck.com/chemistry/bromine-isotopes Category: Chemistry Published: 2011-06-22T04:21:00 Updated: 2011-06-22T04:21:00 The concept of isotopes is one of the most vital one in the field of chemistry. In this article, we shall know which are the stable and unstable bromine isotopes in detail. Bromine is an important chemical element and has a symbol Br. The chemical properties of bromine are quite unique and distinguished as compared to those of other elements. Here are some of the notable bromine properties which you should know: - The atomic number of bromine is 35 - Elemental bromine is toxic as well as corrosive; whereas free bromine is crystalline in nature and does not have a color - It is more reactive than iodine, but less reactive than chlorine - It is highly soluble in acetic acid and carbon disulphide and is known to have intense and strong bleaching action with several other elements - It has just 2 stable isotopes whereas there are around 23 radioisotopes Though the main focus of this article is on its isotopes,we can understand that better only after we are clear with the meaning of the term ‘isotopes’. **Isotopes** The concept of isotopes was first suggested by Frederick Soddy way back in 1913 after studying radioactive decay chains thoroughly. Isotopes are defined as the variants of atoms of an elements which have unequal number of neutrons in them. If a particular element has two isotopes, than the mass number, or the number of nucleons in them, will not be the same. Now, you may want to know what exactly is the meaning of ‘nucleons’. Nucleons is the sum of total number of protons and total number of neutrons of the element. So, _Nucleons = (Number of Protons) + (Number of neutrons)_. If an element has isotopes which are radioactive in nature, then they are called radioisotopes. Tin is the element which has maximum number of stable isotopes which is 10. 79Br and 81Br are the two stable isotopes of bromine. **Isotopes of Bromine** Bromine isotopes Br-79 and Br-81 have great application sin the field of medicine. While Br-81 has been useful for diagnostic purposes, Br-79 is helpful in radiotherapy after getting decayed into the radioisotope Br-77. Another known fact about bromine isotopes is that most of them are results of fission. **Nuclide Symbol** **Neutron Number** **Isotopic Mass** **Half Life** 66Br 31 Not known Not known 67Br 32 66.96 Not known 68Br 33 67.95 <1.2 micro sec 69Br 34 68.95 <24 nano sec 70Br 35 69.94 79.1 milli sec 71Br 36 70.93 21.4 sec 72Br 37 71.93 78.6 seconds 73Br 38 3.4 72.9 min 74Br 39 73.92 25.4 min 75Br 40 74.92 96.7 min 76Br 41 75.92 16.2 hours 77Br 42 76.92 57.036 hours 78Br 43 77.92 6.46 min 79Br 44 78.91 Stable 80Br 45 79.91 17.68 min 81Br 46 80.91 Stable 82Br 47 81.91 35.28 hours 83Br 48 82.91 2.40 hours 84Br 49 83.91 31.80 min 85Br 50 84.91 2.90 min 86Br 51 85.91 55.1 sec 87Br 52 86.92 55.65 sec 88Br 53 87.92 16.29 sec 89Br 54 88.92 4.40 sec 90Br 55 89.93 1.91 sec 91Br 56 90.93 541 milli sec 92Br 57 91.93 0.34 sec 93Br 58 92.94 102 milli sec 94Br 59 93.94 70 milli sec 95Br 60 94.95 \>300 nanosec 96Br 61 95.95 \>300 nanosec 97Br 62 96.96 \>300 nanosec Here are some more bromine isotopes and their half-life that may interest you. **Some More** **Nuclide Symbol** **Half Life** 70mBr 2.2 seconds 72mBr 10.6 seconds 74mBr 46 minutes 76mBr 1.31 seconds 77mBr 4.28 minutes 78mBr 119.2 microseconds 79mBr 4.86 seconds 80mBr 4.42 hours 81mBr 34.6 microseconds 82mBr 6.13 minutes 83mBr 700 nanoseconds 84m1Br 6.0 minutes 84m2Br <140 nanoseconds 88mBr 5.4 microseconds In general, the concept of isotopes is important to understand principles and fundamentals of advanced chemistry. So, my suggestion to those planning a career in chemistry would be to get your basics right so that you can go deep into this interesting subject and understand it thoroughly.