Editing Copper (section)

===Isotopes===
{{Main|Isotopes of copper}}
There are 29 [[isotope]]s of copper. {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|63}} and {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|65}} are stable, with {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|63}} comprising approximately 69% of naturally occurring copper; both have a [[Spin (physics)|spin]] of {{frac|3|2}}.<ref name="nubase">{{NUBASE 2003}}</ref> The other isotopes are [[radioactivity|radioactive]], with the most stable being {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|67}} with a [[half-life]] of 61.83&nbsp;hours.<ref name="nubase" /> Seven [[nuclear isomer|metastable isomers]] have been characterized; {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|68m}} is the longest-lived with a half-life of 3.8 minutes. Isotopes with a [[mass number]] above 64 decay by [[beta decay|β<sup>−</sup>]], whereas those with a mass number below 64 decay by [[positron emission|β<sup>+</sup>]]. [[Copper-64|{{SimpleNuclide|Copper|64}}]], which has a half-life of 12.7 hours, decays both ways.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reCenter.jsp?z=29&n=35 |title=Interactive Chart of Nuclides |work=National Nuclear Data Center |access-date=8 April 2011 |archive-date=25 August 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130825141152/http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/chart/reCenter.jsp?z=29&n=35 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

{{SimpleNuclide|Copper|62}} and {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|64}} have significant applications. {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|62}} is used in {{SimpleNuclide|Copper|62}}Cu-PTSM as a [[radioactive tracer]] for [[positron emission tomography]].<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Okazawad | first1 = Hidehiko | last2 = Yonekura | first2 = Yoshiharu | last3 = Fujibayashi | first3 = Yasuhisa | last4 = Nishizawa | first4 = Sadahiko | last5 = Magata | first5 = Yasuhiro | last6 = Ishizu | first6 = Koichi | last7 = Tanaka | first7 = Fumiko | last8 = Tsuchida |first8 = Tatsuro |last9 = Tamaki |first9 = Nagara |last10 = Konishi | first10 = Junji |date=1994 |title=Clinical Application and Quantitative Evaluation of Generator-Produced Copper-62-PTSM as a Brain Perfusion Tracer for PET |journal=Journal of Nuclear Medicine |volume=35 |issue=12 |pages=1910–1915 |url=http://jnm.snmjournals.org/cgi/reprint/35/12/1910.pdf|pmid=7989968 }}</ref>