Isotopes of Hydrogen

Hydrogen is a chemical element that is found abundantly in nature. It is one of the main constituents of water. The atomic number of hydrogen is 1 and the atomic weight is 1.00794. In this article we shall learn about the isotopes of hydrogen, but before that, let us understand what isotopes are in short.

What are Isotopes

Atoms of the same element with different number of neutrons are known as isotopes. Mostly all elements found in nature have different isotopes. They have similar chemical properties of the element, but differ in their physical properties. Let us now go into the details of different isotopes of hydrogen.

What are the Isotopes of Hydrogen

There are three isotopes of hydrogen that are naturally occurring. Their names are protium, deuterium and tritium.

Hydrogen - 1
Hydrogen - 1 or protium is also written as ¹H. This isotope is abundantly found in nature. It consists of 1 proton and no neutrons.

Hydrogen - 2
Hydrogen - 2 or deuterium is also written as ²H and 'D' is also used as a symbol for deuterium. It contains one proton and one neutron in the nucleus. Deuterium is not a radioactive molecule. When ²H is added to water molecules, it is called heavy water. This water is used as a neutron moderator and coolant for nuclear reactors.

Hydrogen - 3
Hydrogen - 3 is also known as tritium that contains 1 proton and 2 neutrons in the nucleus. It is also written as ³H and sometimes symbolically referred as 'T'. This is one of the radioactive isotopes of hydrogen that decays into helium -3 through β− decay and has a half-life of 12.32 years. It was commonly used as a radiolabel in chemical and biological experiments. It is also used as a thermonuclear fusion weapon and a tracer in isotope geochemistry.

Hydrogen - 4
Hydrogen 4 or ⁴H is one of the most unstable isotopes of hydrogen. It contains 1 proton and 3 neutrons in the nucleus. It does not occur naturally and is synthesized by bombardment of tritium and fast-moving deuterium nuclei. It is also called quadrium.

Hydrogen - 5
Hydrogen - 5 or ⁵H is another unstable isotope. This isotope, also is synthesized by bombardment of tritium with fast-moving tritium nuclei. It contains a proton and 4 neutrons in the nucleus.

Hydrogen -6
Hydrogen 6 or ⁶H has 1 proton and 5 neutrons. This isotope decays through triple neutron emission and has a half life of 3 x 10 ^-22 seconds.

Hydrogen - 7
Hydrogen - 7 or ⁷H contains 1 proton and 6 neutrons.

These are the hydrogen isotopes of which only three are naturally occurring. Protium and deuterium are the stable isotopes of hydrogen. Whereas, ³H, ⁴H, ⁵H, ⁶H and ⁷H are the radioactive isotopes. I hope this article helps you learn the various isotopes of hydrogen.