Hydrogen (H) (Standard atomic mass: 1.00782504(7) u) has three naturally occurring isotopes, sometimes denoted 1H, 2H, and 3H. Other, highly unstable nuclei (4H to 7H) have been synthesized in the laboratory but not observed in nature. The most stable radioisotope is tritium, with a half-life of 12.32 years. All heavier isotopes are synthetic and have a half-life less than a zeptosecond (10-21 second). Of these, 5H is the most stable, and the least stable isotope is 7H.[1][2]
Hydrogen is the only element that has different names for its isotopes in common use today. The 2H (or H-2) isotope is usually called deuterium, while the 3H (or H-3) isotope is usually called tritium. The symbols D and T (instead of 2H and 3H) are sometimes used for deuterium and tritium. The IUPAC states that while this use is common it is not preferred. The ordinary isotope of hydrogen, with no neutrons, is sometimes called "protium". (During the early study of radioactivity, some other heavy radioactive isotopes were given names – but such names are rarely used today).
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1H is the most common hydrogen isotope with an abundance of more than 99.98%. Because the nucleus of this isotope consists of only a single proton, it is given the descriptive but rarely used formal name protium.
2H, the other stable hydrogen isotope, is known as deuterium and contains one proton and one neutron in its nucleus. Deuterium comprises 0.0026 – 0.0184% (by population, not by mass) of hydrogen samples on Earth, with the lower number tending to be found in samples of hydrogen gas and the higher enrichments (0.015% or 150 ppm) typical of ocean water. Deuterium is not radioactive, and does not represent a significant toxicity hazard. Water enriched in molecules that include deuterium instead of normal hydrogen is called heavy water. Deuterium and its compounds are used as a non-radioactive label in chemical experiments and in solvents for 1H-NMR spectroscopy. Heavy water is used as a neutron moderator and coolant for nuclear reactors. Deuterium is also a potential fuel for commercial nuclear fusion.
3H is known as tritium and contains one proton and two neutrons in its nucleus. It is radioactive, decaying into helium-3 through β− decay with a half-life of 12.32 years.[3] Small amounts of tritium occur naturally because of the interaction of cosmic rays with atmospheric gases. Tritium has also been released during nuclear weapons tests. It is used in thermonuclear fusion weapons, as a tracer in isotope geochemistry, and specialized in self-powered lighting devices.
The most common method of producing tritium is by bombarding a natural isotope of lithium, lithium-6, with neutrons in a nuclear reactor.
Tritium was once used routinely in chemical and biological labeling experiments as a radiolabel (this has become less common). D-T nuclear fusion uses tritium as its main reactant, along with deuterium, liberating energy through the loss of mass when the two nuclei collide and fuse under massive temperatures.
4H is known as quadrium and contains one proton and three neutrons in its nucleus. It is a highly unstable isotope of hydrogen. It has been synthesised in the laboratory by bombarding tritium with fast-moving deuterium nuclei.[4] In this experiment, the tritium nuclei captured neutrons from the fast-moving deuterium nucleus. The presence of the hydrogen-4 was deduced by detecting the emitted protons. Its atomic mass is 4.02781 ± 0.00011.[5] It decays through neutron emission with a half-life of (1.39 ± 0.10) × 10−22 seconds.[6]
Muonic helium is created by substituting a muon for one of the electrons in Helium-4. The muon orbits much closer to the nucleus than the electron. Muonic helium can therefore be regarded as an isotope of hydrogen whose nucleus consists of two neutrons, two protons and a muon, with a single electron orbiting the nucleus. A muon weighs about 0.1u, hence the name hydrogen-4.1. Hydrogen 4.1 can bond with other atoms, and behaves more like a hydrogen atom than like an inert helium atom.[7]
5H is a highly unstable isotope of hydrogen. The nucleus consists of a proton and four neutrons. It has been synthesised in the laboratory by bombarding tritium with fast-moving tritium nuclei.[4][8] In this experiment, one tritium nucleus captures two neutrons from the other, becoming a nucleus with one proton and four neutrons. The remaining proton may be detected, and the existence of hydrogen-5 deduced. It decays through double neutron emission and has a half-life of at least 9.1 × 10−22 seconds.[6]
6H decays through triple neutron emission and has a half-life of 2.90×10−22 seconds.[6] It consists of 1 proton and 5 neutrons.
7H consists of a proton and six neutrons. It was first synthesised in 2003 by a group of Russian, Japanese and French scientists at RIKEN's RI Beam Science Laboratory by bombarding hydrogen with helium-8 atoms. In the resulting reaction, the helium-8's neutrons were donated to the hydrogen's nucleus. The two remaining protons were detected by the "RIKEN telescope", a device composed of several layers of sensors, positioned behind the target of the RI Beam cyclotron.[2]
| nuclide symbol |
Z(p) | N(n) | isotopic mass (u) | half-life | decay mode(s)[9] |
daughter isotope(s)[n 1] |
nuclear spin |
representative isotopic composition (mole fraction)[n 2] |
range of natural variation (mole fraction) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 H |
1 | 0 | 1.00782503207(10) | Stable[n 3][n 4] | 1⁄2+ | 0.999885(70) | 0.999816–0.999974 | ||
| 2H[n 5] | 1 | 1 | 2.0141017778(4) | Stable | 1+ | 0.000115(70)[n 6] | 0.000026–0.000184 | ||
| 3H[n 7] | 1 | 2 | 3.0160492777(25) | 12.32(2) a | β- | 3 He |
1⁄2+ | Trace[n 8] | |
| 4 H |
1 | 3 | 4.02781(11) | 1.39(10)×10−22 s [4.6(9) MeV] |
n | 3 H |
2− | ||
| 5 H |
1 | 4 | 5.03531(11) | >9.1×10−22 s ? | n | 4 H |
(1⁄2+) | ||
| 6 H |
1 | 5 | 6.04494(28) | 2.90(70)×10−22 s [1.6(4) MeV] |
3n | 3 H |
2−# | ||
| 4n | 2 H |
||||||||
| 7 H |
1 | 6 | 7.05275(108)# | 2.3(6)×10−23 s# [20(5) MeV]# |
1⁄2+# | ||||
| Book: Hydrogen | |
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In the 1955 satirical novel The Mouse That Roared, the name quadium was given to the hydrogen-4 isotope that powered the Q-bomb that the Duchy of Grand Fenwick captured from the United States.
| No lighter element | Isotopes of hydrogen | Isotopes of helium |
| Index to isotope pages · Table of nuclides | ||