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what is heavy water?
Heavy water is the common term for water which includes the deuterium isotope of hydrogen, 2H2O or D2O. The term can refer to water which contains any amount of deuterium, but often refers to water which has been enriched to contain at or near 100%.

The deuterium in heavy water is much the same as normal hydrogen, which is also known as protium, except that it contains an extra neutron. So a deuterium atom contains one neutron, one proton, and one electron. The extra neutron adds a small amount of weight, about 10% of the total weight, to the atom, which is what makes it heavy.


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