Table of Nuclides

As of 2019, we have identified or synthesized 118 distinct elements with Z protons, but about 2900 distinct nuclides with N neutrons (where atom is to element as nucleus is to nuclide).

The start of my version of the table of nuclides is below, where number of protons Z increases toward 2 o’clock, number of neutrons N increases toward 11 o’clock, and atomic mass A = Z + N increases toward 12 o’clock on average (because more neutrons than protons are needed to bind large nuclei). Rainbow colors code lifetimes t from short (violet) to long (red). For example, the heavy hydrogens are very short lived. The whole chart is a very tall 880 KB PDF table of nuclides. Enjoy!

Start of table of atoms. Rainbow colors code lifetimes, violet (short) to red (long). Number of protons increases toward 2 o'clock, number of neutrons increases toward 11 o'clock.

Start of table of atoms. Rainbow colors code lifetimes, violet (short) to red (long). Number of protons increases toward 2 o’clock, number of neutrons increases toward 11 o’clock.

About John F. Lindner

John F. Lindner was born in Sleepy Hollow, New York, and educated at the University of Vermont and Caltech. He is an emeritus professor of physics and astronomy at The College of Wooster and a visiting professor at North Carolina State University. He has enjoyed multiple yearlong sabbaticals at Georgia Tech, University of Portland, University of Hawai'i, and NCSU. His research interests include nonlinear dynamics, celestial mechanics, and neural networks.
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