Question

Hydrogen has three isotopes written as:
${}_1{}^1\mathrm{H},{}_1{}^2\mathrm{H},{}_1{}^3\mathrm{H}$
Explain Why:
(a) These isotopes have almost identical chemical properties.
(b) They are electrically neutral.

Answer 1

(a) The isotope of hydrogen is chemically similar because isotopes of the atom of the same element have the same atomic number but the different mass number. As the electronic configuration is the same. Due to this, there will be the same valence electrons and they have the same chemical properties.

(b) The isotopes of the hydrogen atom are electrically neutral because the number of protons and the number of electrons is equal. They both cancel out their charges resulting in the net charge zero.