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deuterium

(Encyclopedia)deuterium do͞otērˈēəm [key], isotope of hydrogen with mass no. 2. The deuterium nucleus, called a deuteron, contains one proton and one neutron. Deuterium is also called heavy hydrogen, and water...

tracer

(Encyclopedia)tracer, an identifiable substance used to follow the course of a physical, chemical, or biological process. In chemistry the ideal tracer has the same chemical properties as the molecule it replaces a...

hydrogen

(Encyclopedia)hydrogen hīˈdrəjən [key] [Gr.,=water forming], gaseous chemical element; symbol H; at. no. 1; interval in which at. wt. ranges 1.00784–1.00811; m.p. −259.14℃; b.p. −252.87℃; density 0.08...

cold fusion

(Encyclopedia)cold fusion or low-temperature fusion, nuclear fusion of deuterium, an isotope of hydrogen, at or relatively near room temperature. Fusion, the reaction involved in the release of the destructive ener...

molecular weight

(Encyclopedia)molecular weight, weight of a molecule of a substance expressed in atomic mass units (amu). The molecular weight may be calculated from the molecular formula of the substance; it is the sum of the ato...

tritium

(Encyclopedia)tritium trĭtˈēəm [key], radioactive isotope of hydrogen with mass number 3. The tritium nucleus, called a triton, contains one proton and two neutrons. It has a half-life of 12.5 years and decays ...

Urey, Harold Clayton

(Encyclopedia)Urey, Harold Clayton yo͝orˈē [key], 1893–1981, American chemist, b. Walkerton, Ind., grad. Univ. of Montana (B.S., 1917), Ph.D. Univ. of California, 1923. He taught at Johns Hopkins (1924–29), ...

plasma

(Encyclopedia)plasma, in physics, fully ionized gas of low density, containing approximately equal numbers of positive and negative ions (see electron and ion). It is electrically conductive and is affected by magn...

nuclear energy

(Encyclopedia)CE5 Graph of binding energy per nucleon as a function of mass number nuclear energy, the energy stored in the nucleus of an atom and released through fission, fusion, or radioactivity. In these pr...

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