tritium

trit·i·um

T0370100 (trĭt′ē-əm, trĭsh′ē-)n. A rare radioactive isotope of hydrogen, H-3, having one proton and two neutrons in the nucleus and a half-life of 12.3 years, prepared artificially for use as a tracer and as a constituent of hydrogen bombs.

[From Greek tritos, third; see trei- in Indo-European roots.]

tritium

(ˈtrɪtɪəm) n (Elements & Compounds) a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, occurring in trace amounts in natural hydrogen and produced in a nuclear reactor. Tritiated compounds are used as tracers. Symbol: T or ³H; half-life: 12.5 years[C20: New Latin, from Greek tritos third]

trit•i•um

(ˈtrɪt i əm, ˈtrɪʃ-, ˈtrɪʃ əm)

n. an isotope of hydrogen having an atomic weight of three. [1930–35; < Greek trít(os) third + -ium²]

trit·i·um

(trĭt′ē-əm, trĭsh′ē-əm) A radioactive isotope of hydrogen whose nucleus has one proton and two neutrons and whose atomic mass is about 3. Tritium is rare in nature but can be made artificially in nuclear reactions. It is used in thermonuclear weapons and sometimes as a tracer. See more at hydrogen.

tritium

An isotope of hydrogen. Its nucleus contains one proton and two neutrons and thus has a relative atomic mass of three.

Thesaurus

Noun

tritium - a radioactive isotope of hydrogen; atoms of tritium have three times the mass of ordinary hydrogen atomsatomic number 1, H, hydrogen - a nonmetallic univalent element that is normally a colorless and odorless highly flammable diatomic gas; the simplest and lightest and most abundant element in the universe

Translations

tritium

(trĭt`ēəm), radioactive isotope of hydrogenhydrogen
[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&degC;; b.p. −252.87&degC;; density 0.08988 grams per liter at STP; valence usually +1.
..... Click the link for more information. 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 by beta-particle emission. The symbol is T or ³H. It is one form of heavy hydrogen, the other being deuterium. It is usually produced in nuclear reactors as a byproduct of the irradiation of lithium. Its current major use is to increase the yield of thermonuclear devices. The U.S. Department of Energy has a production reactor in Savannah, Georgia for this purpose. In the future, vast amounts of tritium will fuel experiments in fusion research. Canada, Europe and Japan have extensive programs underway to develop physics-based, as opposed to mechanical based, production procedures to generate the volumes necessary to proceed with these experiments.

Tritium

(T, or ³H), a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with mass number 3 (hence its name, from the Greek tritos, “third”).

Tritium was discovered in 1934 by the British scientists E. Rutherford, M. L. Oliphant, and P. Harteck. The tritium nucleus consists of one proton and two neutrons. Tritium is β-active, with a half-life of 12.26 yr. In nature, it is formed in in-significant quantities by the action of the neutrons of cosmic rays on nitrogen atoms (¹⁴₇N + n = ³₁T + ¹²₆C) and in nuclear transformations induced by high-energy cosmic particles. The mean content of tritium in natural waters is one atom per 10¹⁸ atoms of !H.

Tritium is obtained in nuclear reactors by irradiation of ⁶₃Li with neutrons (⁶₃Li + n = ³₁T + ⁴₂He). It is used as the most important component in thermonuclear synthesis reactions, as a fuel in thermonuclear bombs, and in chemical, biological, and hydrological studies.

REFERENCE

Evans, E. A. Tritii i ego soedineniia. Moscow, 1970. (Translated from English.)

tritium

[′trid·ē·əm] (nuclear physics) The hydrogen isotope having mass number 3; it is one form of heavy hydrogen, the other being deuterium. Symbolized ³H; T.

tritium

a radioactive isotope of hydrogen, occurring in trace amounts in natural hydrogen and produced in a nuclear reactor. Tritiated compounds are used as tracers. Symbol: T or ³H; half-life: 12.5 years

tritium

[trit´e-um, trish´e-um] the mass 3 isotope of hydrogen, symbol ³H, with a half-life of 12.26 years and used as an indicator or tracer in metabolic studies.

hy·dro·gen 3

(³H) (hī'drō-jen) A hydrogen isotope of atomic weight 3; weakly radioactive, emitting beta particles to become the stable helium-3; half-life, 12.32 years.
Synonym(s): tritium.

tritium

a radioactive isotope of hydrogen with an atomic mass of three (H3).

tritium

trit·i·um

tritium

trit•i•um

trit·i·um

tritium

tritium

tritium

Tritium

REFERENCE

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hy·dro·gen 3

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Words related to tritium

noun a radioactive isotope of hydrogen

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