Answer to Question #133263 in Physical Chemistry for TAHIR HUSSAIN

Question

01 (a) What are isotopes. isobar and isotone? Describe the method by which isotopes can be separate from one another

Answer 1

Isotopes are variants of a particular chemical element which differ in neutron number, and consequently in nucleon number.

Isobars are atoms of different chemical elements that have the same number of nucleons. 

Isotone, any of two or more species of atoms or nuclei that have the same number of neutrons. 

There are three types of isotope separation techniques:

• Those based directly on the atomic weight of the isotope.
• Those based on the small differences in chemical reaction rates produced by different atomic weights.
• Those based on properties not directly connected to atomic weight, such as nuclear resonances.

The third type of separation is still experimental; practical separation techniques all depend in some way on the atomic mass. It is therefore generally easier to separate isotopes with a larger relative mass difference. For example, deuterium has twice the mass of ordinary (light) hydrogen and it is generally easier to purify it than to separate uranium-235 from the more common uranium-238. On the other extreme, separation of fissile plutonium-239 from the common impurity plutonium-240, while desirable in that it would allow the creation of gun-type fission weaponsfrom plutonium, is generally agreed to be impractical.^[1]

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