tēr`ēəm), isotope of hydrogen hydrogen [Gr.,=water forming], gaseous chemical element; symbol H; at. no. 1; at. wt. 1.00794; m.p. −259.14°C;; b.p. −252.87°C;; density 0.08988 grams per liter at STP; valence usually +1...... Click the link for more information. with mass no. 2. The deuterium nucleus, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron. Deuterium is also called heavy hydrogen, and water in which the hydrogen atoms are deuterium is called heavy water (deuterium oxide, D2O). Deuterons are sometimes used in particle accelerators, and heavy water is used in "swimming pool" nuclear reactors as a moderator.
deuterium
or heavy hydrogenIsotope of hydrogen, chemical symbol 2H or D, atomic number 1 (but atomic weight approximately 2). Harold C. Urey won a Nobel Prize for its discovery and isolation. Its nucleus contains one proton and one neutron. A stable substance found in naturally occurring hydrogen compounds to the extent of about 0.015%, deuterium can be purified by distillation of hydrogen or by electrolysis of water. It enters into all the same chemical reactions as ordinary hydrogen; it forms D2 and HD, analogous to molecular hydrogen (H2), and D2O (heavy water), analogous to ordinary water (H2O). Nuclear fusion of deuterium atoms or of deuterium and tritium at high temperatures releases enormous amounts of energy. Such reactions have been used in nuclear weapons and experimental power reactors. Deuterium is useful as a tracer in research into reaction mechanisms and biochemical pathways.
deuterium
deuterium [dü′tir·ē·əm]
Deuterium
(heavy hydrogen; represented by D or2H), a stable hydrogen isotope having mass number 2. Deuteron is the nucleus of the deuterium atom. The large difference between the masses of D and ‘H leads to significant differences in their properties (for example, the boiling point of normal hydrogen is 20.39°K, whereas the boiling point of deuterium is 23.57°K; the rates of some chemical reactions differ by a factor of 5–10 for substances containing D and 1H).
In industry deuterium is isolated by using isotopic exchange between water and hydrogen sulfide (deuterium is distributed unevenly between these compounds, concentrating in H2O), by the distillation of liquid hydrogen, and by the multistep electrolysis of water. Deuterium is used as a component of the hydrogen bomb, and in the future it may become a thermonuclear fuel in energetics. In scientific research it is used as an isotope tracer. Heavy water D2O serves as a neutron moderator in atomic reactors. Deuterium was discovered spectrally in 1932 by the American scientist H. Urey and his co-workers.
REFERENCES
Brodskii, A. I. Khimiia izotopov, 2nd ed. Moscow, 1957.Kirschenbaum, I. Tiazhelaia voda. Moscow, 1953. (Translated from English.)
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