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Nuclide reference

N-16 — Nitrogen-16

The half-life of N-16 is 7.13 s. Main decay mode: β⁻ decay to O-16 (100%).

Identification

Element
Nitrogen (N)
Atomic number Z
7
Mass number A
16
State
Radioactive

Key quantities

Half-life
7.13 s
Specific activity
3.659e+21 Bq/g
Gamma constant Γ
—
D-value (НП-067-24)
—

Decay modes

  • β⁻ decay → O-16 — 100 %
  • β⁻ decay + α decay — 0.0012 %

Main gamma lines

Energy, keVYield, %
6,128.6367
7,115.154.9
2,741.50.82
2,822.20.13
1,754.90.121
8,869.30.076
1,954.70.038
6,915.50.038
986.930.0034
867.70.00021

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

Alpha and beta particles

RadiationEnergy, keVYield, %
β⁻, E max4,289.266.2
10,41928
3,302.34.8
1,547.21.06

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

Related calculators

DecayActivity ↔ massDose rate

Other isotopes of this element

N-13
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.

Nitrogen-16 (N-16) — reference data

What is in the card

This card gathers the key data of radionuclide N-16 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 N-16 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.