Question

Hydrogen has three isotopes written as :

${}_1{}^1\mathrm{H},{}_1{}^2\mathrm{H},{}_1{}^3\mathrm{H}$

Explain why :

(i) these isotopes have almost identical chemical properties.

(ii) they are electrically neutral.

Answer 1

(i) The chemical properties of isotopes of hydrogen are similar because they have the same number of protons, which means that they have the same number of electrons that are responsible for the chemical nature of the isotopes.
(ii) All of them have 1 electron and 1 proton. So, they are electrically neutral.