Hydrogen has three known isotopes - two stable and one unstable. Hydrogen isotopes protium 1H1 and deuterium 2H1 are stable. The third isotope tritium 3H1 , the heaviest of the three isotopes with a nucleus having one proton and two neutrons - is unstable.
AXZ
X = Chemical symbol for the element
A = Number og neutrons and protons combined - called the mass number
Z = Atomic number
Physical properties - Hydrogen isotopes - Some data collected from CHEMIX School program
1H1 (Protium) - Abundance = 99.985% , Atomic mass = 1.007825 u , Spin = 1/2
2H1 - (Deuterium) - Abundance = 0.015% , Atomic mass = 2.014000 , Spin = 1
3H1 - (Tritium) - Abundance = 0% , Atomic mass = 3.01605 , Spin 1/2 , Half life = 12.32 years
Hydrogen isotopes - Use
Deuterium oxide, heavy water (D2O) is used as a moderator in nuclear reactors to slow down neutrons.
Tritium is readily produced in nuclear reactors and is used and is used in the production of the hydrogen (fusion) bomb.
Isotopes in general
The atomic number of an atom represents the number of protons in its nucleus, a number that remains constant for a given element. In hydrogen isotopes and other isostopes - the number of neutrons vary (different mass) but the chemical behavior, in which depends strongly of the electronic structure of the element, will be the same.
CHEMIX School contain not only physical data from hydrogen isotopes but also from other isotopes in the periodic table including decay trees. - Try it.
You can download CHEMIX School software by clicking the download link at
the top of this page.
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