What is Heavy Water?

Heavy water is water made with the isotope deuterium instead of hydrogen. Hydrogen has a single proton but deuterium also has a neutron so it is double the mass.

Oh and tritium would make even heavier water as it has two neutrons.

Heavy Water is chemically the same as regular water, but has two Deuterium Atoms , which are Isotopes of Hydrogen, instead of two Hydrogen atoms. A Hydrogen Atom has a proton with an orbiting electron. A Deuterium Atom has the same proton with an orbiting electron, but the nucleus also contains a neutron. This added neutron makes the water 10% heavier

Heavy water is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide, D2O or 2H2O. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H2O. The hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. This isotopic substitution alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.

Heavy water should not be confused with hard water or with tritiated water; however, heavy water can be used to create tritium.

Heavy water is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide, D2O or 2H2O. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H2O. The hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. This isotopic substitution alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.

Heavy water should not be confused with hard water or with tritiated water; however, heavy water can be used to create tritium, a principal source of energy release in a thermonuclear weapon.

Heavy water is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide, D2O or 2H2O. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H2O. The hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. This isotopic substitution alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.

Heavy water should not be confused with hard water or with tritiated water; however, heavy water can be used to create tritium, a principal source of energy release in a thermonuclear weapon.

Heavy-water production is a byproduct of ammonia fertilizer production. Hydrogen was, at the time, mainly produced by electrolysis of water.[2] The Haber Process is then used, reacting the hydrogen with nitrogen from air to produce ammonia. At the time, Europe's major supply of ammonia came from the Norwegian Vemork hydroelectric plant, run by Norsk Hydro, near Rjukan in the Telemark region.

The technology is straightforward. Heavy water (D2O) is separated from regular water by electrolysis because the difference in mass between the two hydrogen isotopes translates into a slight difference in the speed at which the reaction proceeds. To produce pure heavy water by electrolysis requires a large cascade of electrolysis chambers, and consumes large amounts of power. Since the production of hydrogen relied on electrolysis at Vemork, heavy water was a routine byproduct.

Hans Suess was a German advisor to the production of heavy water. Suess had assessed the Rjukan plant as being incapable of producing militarily useful quantities of heavy water in less than five years at its then current capacity.

Chuck L,

If you asked this question because you wanted a truthful answer, then go with Peter K. and Zeke. They know what they are talking about.

I used to use heavy water in medical research twenty years ago. It is exactly what they say it is.

Good luck

Here's the recipe:

Take 5700 tea cups of ordinary tab water. Put enough electric current through to eletrolyce down to 1 cup.

Don't try this at home, it should be done in an institute that makes heavy water.

Deuterium oxide, or D2O. Similar to water, it reacts differently (since there is no hydrogen) especially with neutrons so they can react better with uranium in nuclear reactors.

Water is a molecule composed of 2 atoms of Hydrogen and 1 atom of Oxygen. A normal Hydrogen atom has one proton and one electron (no neutrons). Deuterium is a radioactive form of Hydrogen containing one proton, one electron and one neutron.

Heavy water contains 2 atoms of Deuterium (instead of hydrogen) and one oxygen.

Liquid Chromium