The three most stable isotopes of hydrogen: protium (A = 1),

deuterium (A = 2), and tritium (A = 3).

Protium, the most common isotope of
hydrogen, consists of one proton and
one electron. Unique among all stable
isotopes, it has no neutrons. (see
diproton for a discussion of why
others do not exist)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hydrogen (H) (Standard atomic mass: 1.00794 u) has three naturally occurring
isotopes, sometimes denoted
1
H,
2
H, and
3
H. Other, highly unstable nuclei (
4
H to
7
H) 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,
5
H is the most stable, and the least stable isotope is
7
H.
[1][2]
Hydrogen is the only element that has different names for its isotopes in common
use today. The
2
H (or hydrogen-2) isotope is usually called deuterium, while the
3
H
(or hydrogen-3) isotope is usually called tritium. The symbols D and T (instead of
2
H and
3
H) 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).
Contents
1 Hydrogen-1 (protium)
2 Hydrogen-2 (deuterium)
3 Hydrogen-3 (tritium)
4 Hydrogen-4
5 Hydrogen-5
6 Hydrogen-6
7 Hydrogen-7
8 Table
8.1 Notes
9 See also
10 References
11 Further reading
Hydrogen-1 (protium)
For more details on this topic, see hydrogen atom.
1
H (atomic mass 1.00782504(7) u) 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.
The proton has never been observed to decay and hydrogen-1 is therefore considered a stable isotope.
Some recent theories of particle physics predict that proton decay can occur with a half-life of the order
of 10
36
years. If this prediction is found to be true, then hydrogen-1 (and indeed all nuclei now believed
to be stable) are only observationally stable. To date however, experiments have shown that if proton
decay occurs, the half-life must be greater than 6.6 10
33
years.
Hydrogen-2 (deuterium)
For more details on this topic, see deuterium.
2
H, 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
enrichment (0.015% or 150 ppm) typical of ocean water. Deuterium on Earth has been enriched with respect to its initial concentration in the
Big Bang and the outer solar system (about 27 ppm, by atom fraction) and its concentration in older parts of the Milky Way galaxy (about 23
ppm). Presumably the differential concentration of D in the inner solar system is due to the lower volatility of deuterium gas and compounds,
enriching deuterium fractions in comets and planets exposed to significant heat from the Sun over billions of years of solar system evolution.
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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
1
H-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.
Hydrogen-3 (tritium)
For more details on this topic, see tritium.
3
H is known as tritium and contains one proton and two neutrons in its nucleus. It is radioactive, decaying into helium-3 through 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, which has become less common in recent times.
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 at high temperatures.
Hydrogen-4
4
H 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 nucleus captured a neutron 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]
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.
Hydrogen-5
5
H 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][7]
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]
Hydrogen-6
6
H decays through triple neutron emission and has a half-life of 2.9010
22
seconds.
[6]
It consists of 1 proton and 5 neutrons.
Hydrogen-7
7
H 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, all six of 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]
Table
Isotopes of hydrogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_hydrogen
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nuclide
symbol
Z(p) N(n) isotopic mass (u) half-life
decay
mode(s)
[8]
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) 0.9998160.999974
2
H
[n 5]
1 1 2.0141017778(4) Stable 1
+
0.000115(70)
[n 6]
2.6E-50.000184
3
H
[n 7]
1 2 3.0160492777(25) 12.32(2) y
- 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# 4n
3
H
1

2
+
#
^ Bold for stable isotopes 1.
^ Refers to that in water. 2.
^ Greater than 6.6 10
33
yr. See proton decay. 3.
^ This and
3
He are the only stable nuclides with more protons than neutrons 4.
^ Produced during Big Bang nucleosynthesis 5.
^ Tank hydrogen has a
2
H abundance as low as 3.2 10
5
(mole fraction). 6.
^ Produced during Big Bang nucleosynthesis, but not primordial, as all such atoms have since decayed to
3
He 7.
^ Cosmogenic 8.
Notes
Commercially available materials may have been subjected to an undisclosed or inadvertent isotopic fractionation. Substantial deviations
from the given mass and composition can occur.
Values marked # are not purely derived from experimental data, but at least partly from systematic trends. Spins with weak assignment
arguments are enclosed in parentheses.
Uncertainties are given in concise form in parentheses after the corresponding last digits. Uncertainty values denote one standard
deviation, except isotopic composition and standard atomic mass from IUPAC which use expanded uncertainties.
Nuclide masses are given by IUPAP Commission on Symbols, Units, Nomenclature, Atomic Masses and Fundamental Constants
(SUNAMCO)
Isotope abundances are given by IUPAC Commission on Isotopic Abundances and Atomic Weights
See also
Isotopes of helium
References
Notes
^ Y. B. Gurov et al. (2004). "Spectroscopy of superheavy hydrogen isotopes in stopped-pion absorption by nuclei". Physics of Atomic Nuclei 68 (3):
491497. Bibcode:2005PAN....68..491G (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2005PAN....68..491G). doi:10.1134/1.1891200 (http://dx.doi.org
/10.1134%2F1.1891200).
1.
^
a

b
A. A. Korsheninnikov et al. (2003). "Experimental Evidence for the Existence of
7
H and for a Specific Structure of
8
He". Physical Review
Letters 90 (8): 082501. Bibcode:2003PhRvL..90h2501K (http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003PhRvL..90h2501K). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.90.082501
(http://dx.doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.90.082501).
2.
^ G. L. Miessler, D. A. Tarr (2004). Inorganic Chemistry (3rd ed.). Pearson Prentice Hall. ISBN 978-0-13-035471-6. 3.
^
a

b
G. M. Ter-Akopian et al. (2002). "Hydrogen-4 and Hydrogen-5 from t+t and t+d transfer reactions studied with a 57.5-MeV triton beam". AIP
Conference Proceedings 610: 920. doi:10.1063/1.1470062 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1063%2F1.1470062).
4.
^ "The 2003 Atomic Mass Evaluation" (http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/amdc/web/masseval.html). Atomic Mass Data Center. Retrieved 2008-11-15. 5.
^
a

b

c
G. Audi, A. H. Wapstra, C. Thibault, J. Blachot and O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties"
(http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/amdc/nubase/Nubase2003.pdf). Nuclear Physics A 729: 3128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A (http://adsabs.harvard.edu
/abs/2003NuPhA.729....3A). doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.nuclphysa.2003.11.001).
6.
^ A. A. Korsheninnikov et al. (2001). "Superheavy Hydrogen
5
H". Physical Review Letters 87 (9): 92501. Bibcode:2001PhRvL..87i2501K 7.
Isotopes of hydrogen - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isotopes_of_hydrogen
3 of 4 10.2.2014 3:51
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2001PhRvL..87i2501K). doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.87.092501 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1103%2FPhysRevLett.87.092501).
^ http://www.nucleonica.net/unc.aspx 8.
General references
Isotope masses from:
G. Audi, A. H. Wapstra, C. Thibault, J. Blachot and O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties"
(http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/amdc/nubase/Nubase2003.pdf). Nuclear Physics A 729: 3128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003NuPhA.729....3A). doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001 (http://dx.doi.org
/10.1016%2Fj.nuclphysa.2003.11.001).
Isotopic compositions and standard atomic masses from:
J. R. de Laeter, J. K. Bhlke, P. De Bivre, H. Hidaka, H. S. Peiser, K. J. R. Rosman and P. D. P. Taylor (2003). "Atomic weights of
the elements. Review 2000 (IUPAC Technical Report)" (http://www.iupac.org/publications/pac/75/6/0683/pdf/). Pure and Applied
Chemistry 75 (6): 683800. doi:10.1351/pac200375060683 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1351%2Fpac200375060683).
M. E. Wieser (2006). "Atomic weights of the elements 2005 (IUPAC Technical Report)" (http://iupac.org/publications/pac/78
/11/2051/pdf/). Pure and Applied Chemistry 78 (11): 20512066. doi:10.1351/pac200678112051 (http://dx.doi.org
/10.1351%2Fpac200678112051). Lay summary (http://old.iupac.org/news/archives/2005/atomic-weights_revised05.html).
Half-life, spin, and isomer data selected from the following sources. See editing notes on this article's talk page.
G. Audi, A. H. Wapstra, C. Thibault, J. Blachot and O. Bersillon (2003). "The NUBASE evaluation of nuclear and decay properties"
(http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/amdc/nubase/Nubase2003.pdf). Nuclear Physics A 729: 3128. Bibcode:2003NuPhA.729....3A
(http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2003NuPhA.729....3A). doi:10.1016/j.nuclphysa.2003.11.001 (http://dx.doi.org
/10.1016%2Fj.nuclphysa.2003.11.001).
National Nuclear Data Center. "NuDat 2.1 database" (http://www.nndc.bnl.gov/nudat2/). Brookhaven National Laboratory.
Retrieved September 2005.
N. E. Holden (2004). "Table of the Isotopes". In D. R. Lide. CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics (85th ed.). CRC Press.
Section 11. ISBN 978-0-8493-0485-9.
Further reading
B. Dum (7 March 2003). "Hydrogen-7 makes its debut" (http://physicsworld.com/cws/article/news/2003/mar/07/hydrogen-7-makes-
its-debut). Physics World.
Isotopes of neutronium Isotopes of hydrogen Isotopes of helium
Table of nuclides
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