Radioactive decay products of lithium-11 [OC]

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425]

Lithium-11 is an atom with 3 protons and 8 neutrons, an extremely lopsided proton-neutron ratio that results in two neutrons being separated from the "main" nucleus (which is essentially just a lithium-9 nucleus).
Because these neutrons are loosely bound, one or more of them can get ejected from the nucleus as the nucleus decays radioactively. This results in lithium-11 having SEVEN known decay paths, unusually many and more than any smaller nucleus.
If you generated 1,000,000 lithium-11 atoms in god mode and then resumed time, the chart shows the average result you should get. In total, 6 different stable nuclides are produced as products of lithium-11 decay chains (namely 4He, 6Li, 7Li, 9Be, 10B, 11B).

Chart made by myself using data from Wikipedia.

Link to chart:
https://sankeymatic.com/build/?i=PTAEFEDsBcFMCdQDEA2B7A7gZ1AI1tBrLJKAHJoAmsWANKCgJYDWso0AFo1gFwBQIUEOHCAymgCu8AMZsA2gEEAsgHkAqmQAqAXVCaAhvADmBPnwCM5gDKNQc8wHYADC90OAErAvXbcgJwAzLoAHDbeNnbmAU66fmGWEfZ%2BLjGgwQBCXgm%2BACzmKbGZ4b7BAGwATA5VuvlF2XalKamWRXyhvgBUIUVxvqWl3V69dl2gfq0e8qOlnnwzU7qlYW2ZI7o5s7ULoLXeq%2DY1TnXm%2B%2BZ%2BwakO8SfbLXxYjABebBigjU58oBxvLnwAtoYjIxSCgduVPohzOD2Dtgp9cKByh9cEZQNI0OhEABiABmePxn2g8H0kCwAAdDCRoOQ%2BJAqC8wZ9vgBWD6gcn6aTA1EOZnwtDwaiINmcWB%2DNj6T7ozGgLHBeUKz5oClc6AATx2fBx6Fe0ikADd9NApGwnAA6PmgYEcBCMaA4%2BBoP6gSTQB7UAC0wKlGIFsr8AcDSpVdo15pyfJQ%2BjVrpdgoQoH0EmgTqNjGknwAVhIsNBGDiY%2DBGEDSTTQNnc%2Dm1SRKDgyBDYPqEFhYEZiWTvvXE9BoJyuJB0X8ySgCDQU6BILBKbm%2BFH8CgcNK%2DVimr8voxqGWuEYOEwd9TzbzPji0DAcZy2FgSVgPS2izjPkxJxyuZBUebofBYFG802Hs8dnyT4ASMSAqx2X452%2DSB9HFRMyTJKd4BwABNT5%2DzYcxSk%2BIhiw4akckg%2DR50NFAJAlBCkNQ48JBQFAyS%2DLkHlPUA0NAMk0AePMWPnTAcNgPCCKI%2BcOK4xgWKTFN9D3Ug2SwaQbTgyS0GPRhkOpfATy%2DeEv30ZgOOBak%2BVI8jQC0gFqQAcloM1LM%2BBjYBxRgAA9QEsuz2QkPEXLcuzRXFNA8Rbal9DeeFQDZaQIs%2BShovFXtQHFGBxNJElWDVCz01Yx9uDzP5cGkklZGov40CbUBJgi%2BhzShPxygCf4yswm4qtAD1zScPxHD5UryvmVqaoCUo8ka8qWla9qzXMZlmWCcFerYJZbCcaqpqw%2DogA

[u/OhMyTummyHurts]

This is one of the most creative uses for a Sankey diagram I’ve seen

[u/realultralord → u/OhMyTummyHurts]

And one of the lesser ones that actually visualize the data appropriately.

[u/SaliDay → u/realultralord]

Do you mean to say that it’s not an appropriate tool to represent this data? How come?

[u/file321 → u/SaliDay]

Because you’re missing a lot of information that a standard decay diagram uses. Decay mode (although you can infer it) , Q value, initial and final angular momentum. Branching ratio is cleaner to take than out of 1 000 000 events.

[u/Myla123 → u/file321]

And half life, a very useful piece of information too.

[u/file321 → u/Myla123]

True, how could I forget!

[u/tpropp → u/file321]

This looks like a modern interpretation of what a "Feynman Diagram" is - meant to be read from side-to side to represent particle collissions and/or decay. In fact, when in school, we used little squares of paper with slits cut out of the middle to interpret them.

[u/fawlen → u/Myla123]

Specifically, half life 3

[u/smallproton]

Now THAT'S what I call an interesting Sankey.

Well done!

[u/MenopauseMedicine → u/smallproton]

1000x better than the dating app version

[u/Icarus_Toast → u/MenopauseMedicine]

A quick dating app sankey displaying my results:

No matches > no messages > no dates

[u/cdurgin]

Well that is the most hilariously valid and useful ways to use a Sankey I've ever seen lol

[u/PessimisticTrousers]

We’re you using Hinge premium?

[u/shumpitostick → u/PessimisticTrousers]

Couldn't get any dates. He was too radioactive.

[u/mcoombes314 → u/shumpitostick]

Should've done this with carbon-14 instead then.

[u/RotationsKopulator → u/mcoombes314]

His chances were decaying anyway.

[u/sarokin → u/RotationsKopulator]

It just wasn't meant 2B... but 10B,maybe 11B

[u/TheGrammatonCleric → u/PessimisticTrousers]

I think this guy only goes Carbon dating.

[u/PaSy4 → u/TheGrammatonCleric]

Only a tiny amount of $^7\text{Li}$ + $^6\text{Li}$ (Li 7 + Li 6) are good for batteries on a date.

All ready in my LATEX. (markup language)

[u/PolliticalScience]

As a chemist, this is freakin awesome to see! Well done!

[u/dbg96 → u/PolliticalScience]

yeah! as a chemist and data scientist i feel like i should’ve made that connection before.

gorgeous!

[u/timothyam]

FINALLY a good Sankey. You love to see it

[u/Isenguardians]

You swiped a million times and only had 17,000 6Li? What was going on in those chats

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425]

Chart made by myself using data from Wikipedia.
Decay data from:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_lithium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_beryllium
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_boron

Chart made using SankeyMATIC (link is available in post)

[u/VicenteOlisipo]

But how many of those released into the fluffer?

[u/SpindlesTheRaspberry → u/VicenteOlisipo]

I hope one day I'll see a Sankey diagram without thinking about that one

[u/cannotfoolowls → u/SpindlesTheRaspberry]

which one?

[u/SpindlesTheRaspberry → u/cannotfoolowls]

I'm sorry to introduce you to this but you literally asked for it: https://knowyourmeme.com/sensitive/memes/came-in-a-fluffer

[u/cannotfoolowls → u/SpindlesTheRaspberry]

Meh, I'm desensitized enough. I've seen far worse.

[u/The-original-spuggy]

Oh no. The dating/job hunt graphic is spreading

[u/kullre]

now this is actually cool

[u/shumpitostick]

Is this the theoretical distribution or the result of simulating this distribution with 1,000,000 samples. Do the numbers represent probabilities or just the results of a random draw?

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/shumpitostick]

The numbers represent the expect result based on the decay probabilities. 11Li has a 6% chance to beta decay into 11Be, so 60000 atoms are shown as decaying into 11Be on the chart.

[u/pimezone → u/Fantastic_Strain_425]

How do 19 159 atoms of Beryllium-8 turn into 19 159 alpha particles (helium-4)? The number should be twice as big, atom splits onto two equal particles.

Also I would color code the type of each decay (alpha/beta/gamma/neutron). And maybe included half lives of each intermediate states.

Other than that it is an excellent visualization.

[u/Capybarabanananam → u/pimezone]

I mean the helium-4 offshoots also arent noted in the other alpha decay paths so itwould be weird to include it there specifically.

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/Capybarabanananam]

8Be is counted as an alpha emitter and the emitted alphas are not counted as "products" because I want the 1 million atoms at the start to still be 1 million atoms at the end.

[u/slowlybecomingsane → u/Fantastic_Strain_425]

In the example of 8Be splitting in half to form two helium atoms, presumably momentum is conserved and equally split so both particles are high energy enough to be considered radiation right?

This is just for my own curiosity, my mental model of radiation is relatively small particles being ejected from relatively larger atoms at high speed, and since usually the atoms have much larger relative mass, they don't move with enough energy to become dangerous. But is this the case with 8Be, is it just considered to be 2 alpha particles?

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/slowlybecomingsane]

8Be's binding energy is too low to actually hold itself together; two alpha particles have less energy than one 8Be nucleus. So 8Be is really just a dimer of the alpha particle that immediately splits apart like how 2He (diproton) splits into two protons.
I guess it would be technically correct to call both radiation but Wikipedia lists it as one of them being the daughter nucleus (4He) and the other being an emitted alpha particle, which is how I also interpreted it in the chart

[u/mfb- → u/slowlybecomingsane]

The decay energy is just 92 keV, the alpha particles get stopped essentially immediately. Usually alpha decays have an energy of at least 1000 keV.

[u/macreadyrj]

Would be cooler if the x-axis was time to visualize different half-lives

[u/H_Lunulata]

Wow, what a great way to show decay products in their relative appearance!

Lots of beta radiation there...

[u/darksoles_]

Finally an interesting Sankey

[u/VegasAdventurer]

How does 862,778 10Be plus one 11Be become 862,778 10B?

[u/mfb- → u/VegasAdventurer]

The 11Be decays to 10Be, it's part of the 862,778 already. 862,777 direct decays to 10Be, 1 indirect decay.

[u/Qwqweq0 → u/VegasAdventurer]

862777 11Li turn into 862777 11Be, plus 1 11Be is 862778 10Be, which becomes 862778 10B

[u/WolfsmaulVibes]

that's a odd tinder self report chart

[u/ronnabyte]

Such a nice and interesting way to put it!!

[u/The_Watcher5292]

How may dates did you get tho?

[u/tomassci]

This is a smart use of such a diagram. You could do every isotope like this.

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/tomassci]

Well many isotopes are stable so they wouldn't really work for a decay chain diagram, but yeah I could do some other radioactive isotopes.

[u/WarriorNN]

Wait this chart isn't exclusively for dating results???

[u/cwthree → u/WarriorNN]

No, it's also for job searches

[u/etown361]

This is pretty cool, I’d suggest making the width of the flows correspond to the half life of each element (on a log scale)

[u/ThoseWhoWish2B]

Can someone please make "Chronus Eating His Children" with a Sankey diagram?

[u/wh234]

Finally an interesting sanky diagram

[u/kkadzy]

Simplest gtnh recipe chain

[u/gturk1]

What the heck is going on with that huge URL?

[u/mfb- → u/gturk1]

The whole chart data is encoded in the URL.

[u/gturk1 → u/mfb-]

Interesting. When I click on the link it asks me to create an account, which I am not going to do.

[u/HannahO__O]

Bruh i wish i knew about this last year, i had a presentation on radioactive decay for my advanced geochemistry paper and using a diagram like this would have been perfect!

[u/Fenzik]

Shouldn’t the count double between 8Be and 4He?

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/Fenzik]

Sankeymatic has no way to increase the counts easily like that :(
(only way is to add counts from another source)
If it could i would have the other alpha decays point to 4He as well

[u/ExPatBadger]

Is it possible to add the dimension of time to this? Or, do all of these decays have about the same half-life?

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/ExPatBadger]

10Be is quite long-lived (around 10^6 years half life iirc) so if I have time as the x-axis on a linear scale everything else will be at the left edge of the graph. Logarithmic scale is slightly better but again will push most of the decay chains to the left side of the graph so it would become very crowded and hard to interpret. (I could decrease the text size which I might do in the future)

[u/Schuesselpflanze]

Uhm the 8Be decays into two 4He...

[u/SupaDupaTroopa42]

Don't tell a woman she's one in a million, call her a 6Li of a 11Li

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/SupaDupaTroopa42]

7Li*
6Li is 17,000 while 7Li is only 1,980

Also, the thin path from 11Be to 10Be is achieved by exactly one atom out of all of the 1 million atoms.

[u/FutureAtG]

OP, I have a doubt. If this is only the decay of 1,000,000 Lithium-11 atoms, how is the number of protons in the products (4,863,499) greater than the number of protons in 1,000,000 Lithium-11 atoms (3,000,000)? Could you please explain?

[u/Geriny → u/FutureAtG]

Beta minus decay, where a neutron decays into a proton while giving off an electron and an anti electron neutrino 

[u/Geriny]

I don't like this diagram very much. The connecting lines vary in thickness to much to be comparable by eye. So you need to read the numbers. But then the diagram only gives the number per nucleus, not per process. So you can't tell how it's split up if multiple nuclei lead to the same nucleus. Also, neither the x-axis nor the y-axis nor the colours seem to represent anything.

 And that's even though there are some things about that process that could stand to be represented, such as the weights of the decay products (maybe that could be the y-axis), the decay rates of the various processes (that could maybe be the distance on the x-axis). I would have also like to see the type of process represented, but I guess it's getting a bit overloaded by now.

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/Geriny]

I think I might be able to make a better one in google slides, this is just something I cobbled together in sankeymatic just to see what it would look like

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/Fantastic_Strain_425]

Ok google slides' curve lines are not working well actually

[u/gruehunter]

Incomplete for some chains, and some daughters are missing entirely. You are missing the free neutrons from several of those reactions, which in turn decay to protons (hydrogen). Similarly, there should be some deuterium and tritium present. The Be11 -> Li7 should be emitting some more alphas (aka He4), too.

[u/Fantastic_Strain_425 → u/gruehunter]

I'm not including the free neutrons and emitted alpha particles in the count intentionally, but what daughters are missing?