Nuclear Physics – Why is the Isotope Lithium 6 Stable Against Alpha Decay?

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According to the table the binding energy of Helium 4 is 7.073915MeV/Nucleon while the binding of Lithium 6 is 5.606291MeV/Nucleon. So why is the lithium 6 isotope not an alpha particle emitter?

I have considered the following decay reaction: $${}^6\text{Li}\to{}^4 \text{He} +{}^2\text{H}.$$ Charge, parity and spin are conserved. I don't see why this does not happen naturally?

Best Answer

The problem is the loosely-bound deuteron.

The binding energy per nucleon ($BE/A = \rm1.1\,MeV$ for $\rm^2H$) isn't the right thing to look at, because you have to un-weight by the number of nucleons. Plus when you start looking at beta decays, binding energy per nucleon makes it hard to account for the neutron-proton mass difference. As a commenter says, you have to look at the masses of the initial and final states. I personally prefer to look a the mass excesses, which in this case are

nuclide $\Delta$
$\rm^2H$ 13.1 MeV
$\rm^4He$ 2.4 MeV
$\rm^6Li$ 14.1 MeV

Because $13.1 + 2.4 > 14.1$, your final state is heavier than your initial state, and the decay is forbidden.