What is the differance between heavy water and normal water ?

Question

I am watching a it of the history channel and they talking about hitler wanting heavy water for atomic bomb.
whats the differance.

if any of you people who have answered come back. Do they turn normal water into heavy water or is it a natural thing ?

Answer 1

Water is made of hydrogen and oxygen atoms: each molecule of water is 2 hydrogen atoms and 1 oxygen atom. In normal hydrogen, the atom is made of a proton and electron. In heavy water, some of the hydrogen is made up of a proton plus a neutron, and an electron.

Pure heavy water is about 11% heavier than regular water. Ice made from heavy water sinks in normal water.

In some types of nuclear reactors, heavy water is used as a "neutron moderator" to slow down neutrons so that they can react with the uranium in the reactor.

Answer 2

Heavy water has an extra neutron in the hydrogen atoms.. used for nuclear reactors to produce plutonium...

Answer 3

Heavy water is a loose term which usually refers to deuterium oxide, D2O or 2H2O. Its physical and chemical properties are somewhat similar to those of water, H2O. The hydrogen atoms are of the heavy isotope deuterium, in which the nucleus contains a neutron in addition to the proton found in the nucleus of the hydrogen atom. This isotopic substitution alters the bond energy of the hydrogen-oxygen bond in water, altering the physical, chemical, and especially biological properties of the substance to a larger degree than is found in most isotope-substituted chemical compounds.