Iron-56

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Iron-56
[[Image:|250px|]] Full table
General
Name, symbol	Iron-56, 56Fe
Neutrons	30
Protons	26
Nuclide Data
Natural abundance	91.754%
Half-life	stable
Isotope mass	55.9349375(7) u
Spin	0+
Excess energy	-60601.003 ± 1.354 keV
Binding energy	492253.892 ± 1.356 keV

Iron-56 is the most common isotope of iron. About 91.754% of all iron is iron-56.

With 8.8 MeV binding energy per nucleon, iron-56 is one of the most tightly bound nucleii.^[1] Thus, light elements undergoing nuclear fusion and heavy elements undergoing nuclear fission release energy as their nucleons bind more tightly, and the resulting nucleii approach the the maximum nucleon binding energy, which occurs at nickel-62. As the universe ages, more of the matter is converted into extremely tightly bound nucleii, such as iron-56. This progression of matter toward iron and nickel is one of the phenomena responsible for the heat death of the universe.

Iron-55	Isotopes of Iron	Iron-57
Produced from: Magnesium-56 Cobalt-56	Decay chain	Decays to: Stable

[edit] References

1. ^ Nuclear Binding Energy