Isotopes of carbon

<p><a href="/facts/Carbon/ukrgQexo">Carbon</a> (6C) has 14 known <a href="/facts/Isotope/KD9B1y6o">isotopes</a>, from 8C to 20C as well as 22C, of which only <a href="/facts/Carbon-12/nJYECzEr">12C</a> and <a href="/facts/Carbon-13/Iho4LUtW">13C</a> are <a href="/facts/Stable_nuclide/vC0VVvqN">stable</a>. The longest-lived <a href="/facts/Radionuclide/5WpCfbdq">radioisotope</a> is <a href="/facts/Carbon-14/Ut8SBNNa">14C</a>, with a <a href="/facts/Half-life/kGVH8BAB">half-life</a> of 5.70(3)×103 years. This is also the only carbon radioisotope found in nature, as trace quantities are formed <a href="/facts/Cosmogenic_nuclide/TlJwc4wV">cosmogenically</a> by the reaction 14N + n → 14C + 1H. The most stable artificial radioisotope is 11C, which has a half-life of 20.3402(53) min. All other radioisotopes have half-lives under 20 seconds, most less than 200 milliseconds. The least stable isotope is 8C, with a half-life of 3.5(1.4)×10−21 s. Light isotopes tend to decay into <a href="/facts/Isotopes_of_boron/1n6X5bwg">isotopes of boron</a> and heavy ones tend to decay into <a href="/facts/Isotopes_of_nitrogen/JdTSL0KH">isotopes of nitrogen</a>.
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Isotopes of carbon open-in-new

Isotopes of carbon