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Fluorine reacts with hydrogen (H) and with deuterium (D) to form hydrogen fluoride (HF) and deuterium fluoride (DF). Would a given amount of fluorine react with different masses of the two hydrogen isotopes?

a) Yes
b) No

1 Answer

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Final answer:

Yes, a given amount of fluorine would react with different masses of hydrogen and deuterium because they have different atomic masses; the same number of moles of deuterium is heavier than the same number of moles of hydrogen.

Step-by-step explanation:

Fluorine reacts with hydrogen (H) and with deuterium (D) to form hydrogen fluoride (HF) and deuterium fluoride (DF). To answer the question if a given amount of fluorine would react with different masses of the two hydrogen isotopes, the answer is yes. Hydrogen and deuterium have different atomic masses; thus, the same number of moles of hydrogen and deuterium would have different masses. The atomic mass of protium (common hydrogen) is approximately 1.008 u, whereas the atomic mass of deuterium (²H or D) is approximately 2.014 u.

When fluorine reacts with hydrogen or deuterium to form their respective fluorides (HF or DF), the reaction involves a one-to-one mole ratio. Because of the different atomic masses, the same number of moles of deuterium will weigh about twice as much as the same number of moles of hydrogen. This means that fluorine would react with a greater mass of deuterium than hydrogen to form the same number of moles of DF and HF, respectively.

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