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Naturally occurring erbium (68Er) is composed of 6 stable isotopes, with 166Er being the most abundant (33.503% natural abundance). Thirty radioisotopes have been characterized with between 74 and 108 neutrons, or 142 to 177 nucleons, with the most stable being 169Er with a half-life of 9.4 days, 172Er with a half-life of 49.3 hours, 160Er with a half-life of 28.58 hours, 165Er with a half-life of 10.36 hours, and 171Er with a half-life of 7.516 hours. All of the remaining radioactive isotopes have half-lives that are less than 3.5 hours, and the majority of these have half-lives that are less than 4 minutes. This element also has 13 meta states, with the most stable being 167mEr (t1/2 2.269 seconds).
The isotopes of erbium range in atomic weight from 141.9723 u (142Er) to 176.9541 u (177Er). The primary decay mode before the most abundant stable isotope, 166Er, is electron capture, and the primary mode after is beta decay. The primary decay products before 166Er are holmium isotopes, and the primary products after are thulium isotopes.