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Nuclide reference

K-42 — Potassium-42

The half-life of K-42 is 12.36 h. Main decay mode: β⁻ decay to Ca-42 (100%).

Identification

Element
Potassium (K)
Atomic number Z
19
Mass number A
42
State
Radioactive

Key quantities

Half-life
12.36 h
Specific activity
2.234e+17 Bq/g
Gamma constant Γ
—
A1 / A2 for transport (SSR-6, НП-053-16)
0.2 TBq / 0.2 TBq
D-value (НП-067-24)
0.2 TBq

Decay modes

  • β⁻ decay → Ca-42 — 100 %

Main gamma lines

Energy, keVYield, %
1,524.618.08
312.60.3363
899.70.05153
1,920.80.04122
1,021.20.02007
2,424.30.01989
6920.003254
1,2280.00235

Lines of the bare nuclide (ENDF/B-VIII.0), without daughter ingrowth.

Alpha and beta particles

RadiationEnergy, keVYield, %
β⁻, E max3,525.581.9
2,000.917.64
1,688.30.34
79.950.07

For β⁻ the endpoint (maximum) energy of the spectrum is given. ENDF/B-VIII.0.

Related calculators

DecayActivity ↔ massSource categoryDose rateA1/A2 and package type

Other isotopes of this element

K-40
Reference data vs computed valuesHalf-life, gamma lines and D-value are reference data (ENDF/B-VIII.0, НП-067-24).Gamma constant Γ is H*(10) at 1 m computed from ICRP-107 spectra (NIST µ_en/ρ, ICRP-74 Table A.21) including short-lived progeny in equilibrium (e.g. Cs-137/Ba-137m, Ra-226 series); specific activity uses molar mass M ≈ mass number A.

Potassium-42 (K-42) — reference data

What is in the card

This card gathers the key data of radionuclide K-42 in one place: half-life, decay modes, main gamma lines, alpha and beta particle energies, gamma constant, specific activity and the D-value for source categorization. Decay and emission data are from ENDF/B-VIII.0; the D-value follows NP-067-24; the gamma constant is the ambient dose equivalent H*(10) at 1 m, computed from ICRP-107 spectra.

How to use the data

Half-life and specific activity let you recalculate the activity of a K-42 source to the delivery or disposal date — use the decay calculator. Gamma lines with yields identify the nuclide from a spectrum and pick the line for gamma spectrometry; the gamma constant Γ gives the dose rate at a distance, while the D-value and A1/A2 set the source category and the package type for transport.