Friday, December 17, 2010

Today’s interesting fact has to do with atoms, elements and isotopes.

The simplest atom, hydrogen, has one electron and one proton. The proton is in the nucleus with the electron circling around it. But there isn’t just one form of hydrogen, there are three. Deuterium is an isotope of hydrogen that has a neutron in the nucleus with the proton. Tritium has two neutrons with the proton. Hydrogen is also the only element with separate names for the various isotopes. The simplest form, without any neutrons, is also known as protium.

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