Isotopes of magnesium
naturally occurs in three stable isotopes, 24Mg, 25Mg, and 26Mg. There are 18 radioisotopes that have been discovered, ranging from 19Mg to 40Mg. The longest-lived radioisotope is 28Mg with a half-life of 20.915 hours. The lighter isotopes mostly decay to isotopes of sodium while the heavier isotopes decay to isotopes of aluminium. The shortest-lived is 19Mg with a half-life of 5 picoseconds.
