Potassium-40 (K) is a long lived and the main naturally occurring

radioactive isotope A radionuclide (radioactive nuclide, radioisotope or radioactive isotope) is a nuclide that has excess numbers of either neutrons or protons, giving it excess nuclear energy, and making it unstable. This excess energy can be used in one of three ...

potassium Potassium is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol K (from Neo-Latin ) and atomic number19. It is a silvery white metal that is soft enough to easily cut with a knife. Potassium metal reacts rapidly with atmospheric oxygen to ...

. Its

half-life Half-life is a mathematical and scientific description of exponential or gradual decay. Half-life, half life or halflife may also refer to: Film * Half-Life (film), ''Half-Life'' (film), a 2008 independent film by Jennifer Phang * ''Half Life: ...

is 1.25 billion years. It makes up about 0.012% (120 ppm) of natural potassium. Potassium-40 undergoes four different types of

radioactive decay Radioactive decay (also known as nuclear decay, radioactivity, radioactive disintegration, or nuclear disintegration) is the process by which an unstable atomic nucleus loses energy by radiation. A material containing unstable nuclei is conside ...

, including all three main types of

beta decay In nuclear physics, beta decay (β-decay) is a type of radioactive decay in which an atomic nucleus emits a beta particle (fast energetic electron or positron), transforming into an isobar of that nuclide. For example, beta decay of a neutron ...

: *

Electron emission In physics, electron emission is the ejection of an electron from the surface of matter, or, in beta decay (β− decay), where a beta particle (a fast energetic electron or positron) is emitted from an atomic nucleus transforming the original nuc ...

(β) to Ca with a decay energy of 1.31 MeV at 89.6% probability *

Positron emission Positron emission, beta plus decay, or β+ decay is a subtype of radioactive decay called beta decay, in which a proton inside a radionuclide nucleus is converted into a neutron while releasing a positron and an electron neutrino (). Positron emi ...

(β) to Ar at 0.001% probability *

Electron capture Electron capture (K-electron capture, also K-capture, or L-electron capture, L-capture) is a process in which the proton-rich nucleus of an electrically neutral atom absorbs an inner atomic electron, usually from the K or L electron shells. Th ...

(EC) to Ar followed by a

gamma decay Gamma (; uppercase , lowercase ; ) is the third letter of the Greek alphabet. In the system of Greek numerals it has a value of 3. In Ancient Greek, the letter gamma represented a voiced velar stop . In Modern Greek, this letter normally repr ...

emitting a photonAlso called a

gamma ray A gamma ray, also known as gamma radiation (symbol ), is a penetrating form of electromagnetic radiation arising from high energy interactions like the radioactive decay of atomic nuclei or astronomical events like solar flares. It consists o ...

, because it is produced by a transition in the nucleus with an energy of 1.46 MeV at 10.3% probability * Direct electron capture (EC) to the ground state of Ar at 0.1%. Both forms of the electron capture decay release further photons,Also called

x-ray An X-ray (also known in many languages as Röntgen radiation) is a form of high-energy electromagnetic radiation with a wavelength shorter than those of ultraviolet rays and longer than those of gamma rays. Roughly, X-rays have a wavelength ran ...

, as they are emitted from transitions of electrons when electrons from the outer shells fall into the inner shells to replace the electron taken from there. The EC decay of K explains the large abundance of argon (nearly 1%) in the

Earth's atmosphere The atmosphere of Earth is composed of a layer of gas mixture that surrounds the Earth's planetary surface (both lands and oceans), known collectively as air, with variable quantities of suspended aerosols and particulates (which create weathe ...

, as well as prevalence of Ar over other isotopes.

Potassium–argon dating

Potassium-40 is especially important in potassium–argon (K–Ar) dating. Argon is a gas that does not ordinarily combine with other elements. So, when a

mineral In geology and mineralogy, a mineral or mineral species is, broadly speaking, a solid substance with a fairly well-defined chemical composition and a specific crystal structure that occurs naturally in pure form.John P. Rafferty, ed. (2011): Mi ...

forms – whether from molten rock, or from substances dissolved in water – it will be initially argon-free, even if there is some argon in the liquid. However, if the mineral contains traces of potassium, then decay of the K isotope present will create fresh argon-40 that will remain locked up in the mineral. Since the rate at which this conversion occurs is known, it is possible to determine the elapsed time since the mineral formed by measuring the ratio of K and Ar atoms contained in it. The argon found in Earth's atmosphere is 99.6% Ar; whereas the argon in the Sun – and presumably in the primordial material that condensed into the planets – is mostly Ar, with less than 15% of Ar. It follows that most of Earth's argon derives from potassium-40 that decayed into argon-40, which eventually escaped to the atmosphere.

Contribution to natural radioactivity

The decay of K in Earth's mantle ranks third, after Th and U, in the list of sources of radiogenic heat. Less is known about the amount of radiogenic sources in Earth's outer and inner core, which lie below the mantle. It has been proposed, though, that significant core radioactivity (1–2 TW) may be caused by high levels of U, Th and K. Potassium-40 is the largest source of natural radioactivity in animals including humans. A 70 kg human body contains about 140 g of potassium, hence about of K; whose decay produces about 3850 to 4300 disintegrations per second (

becquerel The becquerel (; symbol: Bq) is the unit of radioactivity in the International System of Units (SI). One becquerel is defined as an activity of one per second, on average, for aperiodic activity events referred to a radionuclide. For applicatio ...

) continuously throughout the life of an adult person (and proportionally less in young children).The number of radioactive decays per second in a given mass of K is the number of atoms in that mass, divided by the average lifetime of a K atom in seconds. The number of atoms in one gram of K is the

Avogadro constant The Avogadro constant, commonly denoted or , is an SI defining constant with an exact value of when expressed in reciprocal moles. It defines the ratio of the number of constituent particles to the amount of substance in a sample, where th ...

divided by the

atomic weight Relative atomic mass (symbol: ''A''; sometimes abbreviated RAM or r.a.m.), also known by the deprecated synonym atomic weight, is a dimensionless physical quantity defined as the ratio of the average mass of atoms of a chemical element in a giv ...

of potassium-40 (39.96 g/mol): about per gram. As in any

exponential decay A quantity is subject to exponential decay if it decreases at a rate proportional to its current value. Symbolically, this process can be expressed by the following differential equation, where is the quantity and (lambda Lambda (; uppe ...

, the average lifetime is the half-life divided by the

natural logarithm The natural logarithm of a number is its logarithm to the base of a logarithm, base of the e (mathematical constant), mathematical constant , which is an Irrational number, irrational and Transcendental number, transcendental number approxima ...

of 2, or about seconds.

Banana equivalent dose

Potassium-40 is famous for its usage in the

banana equivalent dose Banana equivalent dose (BED) is an informal unit of measurement of ionizing radiation exposure, intended as a general educational example to compare a dose of radioactivity to the dose one is exposed to by eating one average-sized banana. Bananas ...

, an informal unit of measure, primarily used in general educational settings, to compare radioactive dosages to the amount received by consuming one

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large treelike herbaceous flowering plants in the genus '' Musa''. In some countries, cooking bananas are called plantains, distinguishing the ...

. The radioactive dosage from consuming one banana is around 10

sievert The sievert (symbol: SvPlease note there are two non-SI units that use the same Sv abbreviation: the sverdrup and svedberg.) is a derived unit in the International System of Units (SI) intended to represent the stochastic health risk of ionizin ...

, or 0.1 microsievert, under the assumptions that all of the radiation produced by potassium-40 is absorbed in the body (which is mostly true, as the majority of the radiation is beta-minus radiation, which has a short range) and that the

biological half-life Biological half-life (elimination half-life, pharmacological half-life) is the time taken for concentration of a drug, biological substance (such as a medication) to decrease from its maximum concentration (chemistry), concentration (Cmax (pharm ...

of potassium-40 is around 30 days (which is likely too large an estimate, as the body controls potassium levels closely and emits excess potassium quickly through urine). At the estimated 0.1 μSv, one banana equivalent dose is around 1% of the average American's daily exposure to radiation.

Other naturally occurring potassium isotopes

Besides the long lived potassium-40, there are also trace amounts of potassium-42 in the biosphere. Potassium-42 has a short half life of just over half a day, so exposure to it is usually through the air, but it cannot accumulate in longer lived plants or animals. Potassium-42 is produced by the natural decay of argon-42 with a half-life time of 32.9 years. Argon-42 is in turn produced mostly from nuclear reactions between highly energetic cosmic particles and atmospheric argon-40 in the outermost layers of the earth's atmosphere. Some argon-42 also originates from thermonuclear weapons testing, when the high neutron flux around these weapons lead to double neutron activation of atmospheric argon-40. Production rates are low though, with less than 1 in 10 argon atoms being argon-42.

Notes

References

External links

Table of radioactive isotopes, K-40The Lund/LBNL Nuclear Data Search
* Potassium-40 Section
Radiological and Chemical Fact Sheets to Support Health Risk Analyses for Contaminated Areas
{{Isotope sequence , element=potassium , lighter= potassium-39 , heavier= potassium-41 , before=— , after=

argon-40 Argon (Ar) has 26 known isotopes, from Ar to Ar, of which three are stable (Ar, Ar, and Ar). On Earth, Ar makes up 99.6% of natural argon. The longest-lived radioactive isotopes are Ar with a half-life of 268 years, Ar with a half-life of 32.9 ye ...

, calcium-40, Stable Isotopes of potassium Element toxicology Positron emitters Radionuclides used in radiometric dating