Question

Nuclear Isomerism is exhibited by?
A. molecules only
B. All diatomic molecules
C. All diatomic molecules have even Z value.
D. All diatomic molecules having odd Z value.

Answer 1

Hint: Nuclear isomers are atoms with same mass number and atomic numbers, but with different states of excitation in the atomic nucleus. The higher or more excited state is called a metastable state, while the stable, unexcited state is called the ground state. Metastable isomers can be produced through nuclear fusion or other nuclear reactions.

Complete step by step answer:
What are nuclear isomers?
A nuclear isomer is an excited metastable energy state with a half-life, significantly longer than most of other excited energy levels. A metastable of a given isomer is designated with an ‘m’ next to the mass number of the isotope, or in the case of an isotope with more than one isomer, m1, m2 and so forth.
For example, silver-116 has two metastable states in addition to the ground state, so the three states would be written as ${}^{116}Ag$, ${}^{116m1}Ag$ , ${}^{116m2}Ag$.

Nuclear Isomerism: Nuclear isomerism may be due to the fact that the two lowest nuclear states have zero angular momentum and opposite parity. The lifetime of the first excited state is estimated under these conditions for the emission of two quanta and for the ejection of two electrons from the K or L shell.
Nuclear isomerism is exhibited by all diatomic molecules having an odd Z value. Nuclei with odd Z values possess resultant nuclear spin and hence exhibit nuclear isomerism.

Therefore, option D is the answer!

Note: The nuclear spin is integer (mostly 0) for all even-A nuclei and non-integer (half integer) for all Odd-A nuclei. Most of the metastable states decay quickly, some last for minutes, hours, years or much longer. Nuclear isomers are used as gamma sources for medical procedures, nuclear batteries, for research into gamma ray stimulated emission, and for gamma ray lasers.