Isotopes of hydrogen

Isotope data
hydrogen symbol icon

The Hydrogen isotope H-2, also known as deuterium, is used in a variety of applications. Deuterium is used extensively in organic chemistry in order to study chemical reactions. It is also used in vitamin research. Deuterium in the form of H2O, known as heavy water, is used as a moderator in CANDU nuclear reactors, in NMR studies and in studies into human metabolism. Heavy water is also applied in the Sudbury Neutrino Observatory where it is used to study the behavior of neutrinos.

Naturally occurring isotopes

This table shows information about naturally occuring isotopes, their atomic masses, their natural abundances, their nuclear spins, and their magnetic moments. Further data for radioisotopes (radioactive isotopes) of hydrogen are listed (including any which occur naturally) below.
Isotope Atomic mass (ma/u) Natural abundance (atom %) Nuclear spin (I) Magnetic moment (μ/μN)
1H 1.007825032 1(4) 99.9885 (70) 1/2 2.7928456
2H 2.014101778 0(4) 0.0115 (70) 1 0.8574376

Isotopic abundances of H
In the above picture, the most intense ion is set to 100% since this corresponds best to the output from a mass spectrometer. This is not to be confused with the relative percentage isotope abundances which total 100% for all the naturally occurring isotopes.

Radiosotope data

Further data for naturally occuring isotopes of hydrogen are listed above. This table gives information about some radiosotopes of hydrogen, their masses, their half-lives, their modes of decay, their nuclear spins, and their nuclear magnetic moments.
Isotope Mass Half-life Mode of decay Nuclear spin Nuclear magnetic moment
3H 3.0160492675(11) 12.33 y β- to 3He 1/2 2.978960

Sheffield ChemPuter isotope pattern calculator

You can use WebElements to calculate an isotope pattern for an arbitrary chemical formula:

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  • 'Pseudoelements' such as Me, Ph, Cp, and many others are OK
  • Compound names and element names such as 'water' or 'manganese' are not OK
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References

  1. Naturally occurring isotope abundances: Commission on Atomic Weights and Isotopic Abundances report for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry in Isotopic Compositions of the Elements 1989, Pure and Applied Chemistry, 1998, 70, 217. [Copyright 1998 IUPAC]
  2. Masses, nuclear spins, and magnetic moments: I. Mills, T. Cvitas, K. Homann, N. Kallay, and K. Kuchitsu in Quantities, Units and Symbols in Physical Chemistry, Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford, UK, 1988. [Copyright 1988 IUPAC]
  3. For further information about radioisotopes see Jonghwa Chang's (Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute) Table of the Nuclides

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hydrogen atomic number