Hydrogen (1H) has three naturally occurring isotopes: 1H, 2H, and 3H. 1H and 2H are stable, while 3H has a half-life of 12.32(2) years.[3][nb 1] Heavier isotopes also exist; all are synthetic and have a half-life of less than 1 zeptosecond (10−21 s).[4][5]
Of these, 5H is the least stable, while 7H is the most.
Hydrogen is the only element whose isotopes have different names that remain in common use today: 2H is deuterium[6] and 3H is tritium.[7] The symbols D and T are sometimes used for deuterium and tritium; IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) accepts said symbols, but recommends the standard isotopic symbols 2H and 3H, to avoid confusion in alphabetic sorting of chemical formulas.[8]1H, with no neutrons, may be called protium to disambiguate.[9] (During the early study of radioactivity, some other heavy radioisotopes were given names, but such names are rarely used today.)