What is deuterium?
deuterium is an isotope of a chemical hydrogen hydrogen. Unlike the normal hydrogen, which has one proton, deuterium has one proton and one neutron. This isotope is non -radioactive and is located in a small amount where hydrogen is present. It is used primarily in a nuclear fusion, as a moderator for fission reactors and when displaying nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.
Deuterium is largely chemically identical to conventional hydrogen. It can replace hydrogen in chemical bindings and most organisms can be successfully grown at a high level of deuterium. Deuterium oxide, called "heavy water", shows some strange effects due to the extra weight of the isotope; It is stronger than conventional water and the ice cubes of heavy water sink. Organisms that consume small amounts of heavy water are not generally affected, but other matter causes a slight change in its fasteners, and this may disrupt the cell biochemistry if too large water is used.
Deuterium is extracted from seawater where it is located at a concentreor approximately 300 ppm. It is very diluted, and therefore the process of extraction is energy -intensive and expensive; 1 pound (0.4 kilograms) can cost hundreds of US dollars (USD). Due to the atomic mass, the isotope is a better neutron moderator than ordinary hydrogen, and in some nuclear fission reactors, deuterium oxide, such as Cand's design, is used. Deuterium is also used in the production of nuclear bombs and during World War II allies bombed the main German deuteri plant to prevent atomic weapons.
Most easily capable fusion reactions use deuterium as a component, including deuterium-tritium, the current focus of artificial fusion research. Most of the isotope created inside the star is quickly fused, and so the vast majority of hydrogen in the universe remains hydrogen, or is thus so far into heavier elements Helium and carbon. Brown dwarves who never have a sufficiently high core temperature to combine conventional hydrogen can remain stable for several million years by joining their deUTERIA.