Question
Question: Tritium is the isotope of hydrogen with one neutron. A. True B. False...
Tritium is the isotope of hydrogen with one neutron.
A. True
B. False
Solution
Isotopes are the atoms of an element that have the same number of protons and electrons but differ in the number of neutrons. They have the same chemical properties but slightly different physical properties. They are still the same element, but have different weights.
Complete step by step answer:
The sum of the number of protons and neutrons is called mass number. Isotopes are identified by their mass number. Atomic mass of an element is a weighted average which accounts for how much of each isotope occurs naturally.
Hydrogen is an element having one proton and no neutron. Its atomic number and mass number are the same which is equal to one. It has three isotopes-Protium, Deuterium and Tritium.
The primary isotope of hydrogen is known as Protium. Mass number of Protium is one, i.e it has only one proton and no neutron. It occurs in nature at approximately 99.98% of the natural element.
The mass number of Deuterium is two, i.e. it has one proton and one neutron. It is found in nature in 0.015%.
The mass number of Tritium is three, i.e. it has one proton and two neutrons. It is found in nature in very small quantities.
Thus we can say that the given statement is false because Tritium has two neutrons. The isotope of hydrogen having one neutron is called Deuterium.
Additional information:
Tritium is readily produced in nuclear reactors. It is used in the production of hydrogen bombs. Deuterium is used in vitamin research. It is also used in organic chemistry to study chemical reactions.
Note:
Hydrogen is the only element which has been given different names for each isotope. Isotopes are based on the number of neutrons. One atom of Deuterium is found in 6000 ordinary hydrogen atoms.