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deuterium

Variant of the chemical element hydrogen where the atomic nucleus consists not of a single proton, but of a proton and a neutron.

In the context of general relativity it is of interest, as it is one of the species of light atomic nuclei, that formed in the early universe during Big Bang Nucleosynthesis.

Definitioner

hydrogen

The lightest (and, in our universe, the most abundant) chemical element. The atomic nucleus of an ordinary hydrogen atom is a single proton. If the atomic nucleus contains an additional neutron, the atom is called heavy hydrogen or deuterium.

chemical element (element, chemical)

A substance that cannot be decomposed into more elementary constituent substances by the methods of chemistry. From a physics point of view, to every chemical element corresponds a specific atom which is defined uniquely by the number of protons in its atomic nucleus (for example: nuclei with a single proton define the element hydrogen, two protons define helium, three Lithium, 26 iron and 92 uranium).

chemical element

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deuterium

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