Isotopic shift

The isotope shift is a physical effect, which manifests itself in the fact that the spectral lines are shifted relative to each other in the atomic spectra of different isotopes of the same element. Reasons for this are differences in mass, volume or magnetic moment of the nucleus, which lead to minor changes in the electron shells of atoms and thereby shift or splitting of spectral lines.

The differences in the nuclear masses lead to differences in the reduced electron mass. The theory of this purely kinematic effect, which is particularly noticeable in light elements, developed by DS Hughes and Carl Eckart. Among other things, the hydrogen isotope deuterium 2H was discovered due to the isotope shift for hydrogen 1H 1931 by Harold Clayton Urey.

The differences in the core size differences cause the electrical charge distribution of the cores. This effect plays an important role in heavy elements and was told by Aage Bohr and Victor Weisskopf.

The isotope shift is like all other physical isotope small, and therefore can only be detected on the basis of high-resolution spectroscopic studies.

Use

The isotope is used in the uranium enrichment process using lasers.