deuterium

noun

deu·te·ri·um | \dü-ˈtir-ē-əm also dyü-

Definition of deuterium

: an isotope of hydrogen that has one proton and one neutron in its nucleus and that has twice the mass of ordinary hydrogen —symbol D

— called also heavy hydrogen

Examples of deuterium in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile any object less than 13 Jupiter masses should fail to trigger deuterium fusion and thus would be a planet. — Nola Taylor Redd, Scientific American, "It’s Full of Stars: New 3-D Milky Way Map Could Settle Debate over Who Discovered the First Exoplanet," 20 Apr. 2018 In any case, the reason to differentiate them isn't burning deuterium. — Sophie Weiner, Popular Mechanics, "Are Brown Dwarfs Planets or Failed Stars?," 24 Mar. 2018 The nuclear fuel used in the Alcator C-Mod previously contained just two types of ions, deuterium and hydrogen. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "MIT Achieves Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion," 28 Aug. 2017 The excited hydrogen ions then slam into the more abundant deuterium ions, and resulting particles fly into the reactor's outer shell, generating heat and electricity. — Jay Bennett, Popular Mechanics, "MIT Achieves Breakthrough in Nuclear Fusion," 28 Aug. 2017 To make a hydrogen bomb, one would still need uranium or plutonium as well as two other isotopes of hydrogen, called deuterium and tritium. — Melissa Chan, Time, "What Is the Difference Between a Hydrogen Bomb and an Atomic Bomb?," 22 Sep. 2017 Below 80 Jupiter masses, star-like objects are called brown dwarfs and only fuse hydrogen into the isotope deuterium. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "This Is the Smallest Star Ever Discovered," 11 July 2017 The fusion reactors that Princeton Satellite Systems is developing uses low-frequency radio waves to heat a mix of deuterium and helium-3, and magnetic fields to confine the resulting plasma in a ring. — NBC News, "Are These Little Rockets the Future of Spaceflight?," 13 June 2017 The fuels were deuterium and tritium, rare forms of hydrogen. — William J. Broad, New York Times, "U.S. Nuclear History Offers Clues to North Korea’s Progress," 22 May 2017

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