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Q.How do you convert para hydrogen into ortho hydrogen ?

Tamil Nadu DgeTamil Nadu HSC First Year (DGE) Board 2025Subjective· 3mImportance★★★★★
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Para hydrogen is converted back into ortho hydrogen by heating it to a high temperature (or by exposing it to a catalyst such as charcoal, or to electric discharge/atomic hydrogen), since ordinary hydrogen at high temperature is an equilibrium mixture rich in the ortho form.

Hydrogen exists as two spin isomers depending on the relative spin orientation of the two nuclei in the H2 molecule:

  • Ortho-hydrogen: both nuclear spins are parallel (same direction).
  • Para-hydrogen: the two nuclear spins are antiparallel (opposite direction).

At very low temperatures (close to absolute zero), hydrogen exists almost entirely as para-hydrogen (the lower-energy form). As temperature increases, the equilibrium mixture shifts towards a higher proportion of ortho-hydrogen; at room temperature and above ("normal" hydrogen), the equilibrium composition is about 75% ortho and 25% para, and above roughly 800 K it approaches this 3:1 ortho:para ratio essentially completely.

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