Talk:Isotopes of mercury

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Neutron–proton ratio of 204Hg
It should be noted in the chart that 204Hg has the highest N/Z ratio of any known stable isotope at 1.55 (mentioned in the Wikipedia article Neutron–proton ratio). 216Po has even higher N/Z ratio than 204Hg, but it is very unstable with respect to alpha decay, with a half-life of only 145 ms. 2A04:CEC0:11CD:6609:1C53:ACAC:ED4F:9F39 (talk) 23:26, 27 November 2023 (UTC)
 * If we're counting unstable isotopes, then probably a better comparison is 238U at 1.59. :) Double sharp (talk) 08:26, 13 December 2023 (UTC)

Possible alpha decay of several isotopes of mercury
203Hg through 206Hg are the only alpha-stable isotopes of mercury.

According to, 192Hg (N = 112) and 194Hg (N = 114) should respectively have a partial alpha decay half-life of at least 1011 years and 1018 years. Note that the alpha decay energy of 194Hg is 2.70 MeV, which is lower than 3.27 MeV of its alpha product 190Pt and 2.82 MeV of its double alpha product 186Os. Also 192Hg has lower alpha decay energy than its daughter 188Pt (3.38 MeV vs. 4.01 MeV).

According to, 196Hg should have an alpha decay half-life at the order of 1032 years. Note that the alpha decay energy is 2.038 MeV, which is lower than 2.4239 MeV of its alpha product 192Pt and 2.1432 MeV of its double alpha product 188Os.

The alpha decay energy of 207Hg is only 984.3 keV, so alpha decay may be possible but with a very long partial half-life beyond imagination.

According to the link above, 208Hg (decay energy = 2.4002 MeV), 210Hg and 212Hg should respectively have an alpha decay half-life at the order of 1022 years, 1026 years and 1027 years. The alpha decay partial half-life of 212Hg is 41 orders of magnitude longer than that of 212Po despite having an energy 36.0786 MeV higher. 129.104.241.214 (talk) 21:44, 28 December 2023 (UTC)