What is Hydrogen?

 

Hydrogen (H), a colourless, odourless, tasteless, flammable gaseous substance that is the simplest member of the family of chemical elements. The hydrogen atom has a nucleus consisting of a proton bearing one unit of positive electrical charge; an electron, bearing one unit of negative electrical charge, is also associated with this nucleus. Under ordinary conditions, hydrogen gas is a loose aggregation of hydrogen molecules, each consisting of a pair of atoms, a diatomic molecule, H2. The earliest known important chemical property of hydrogen is that it burns with oxygen to form water, H2O; indeed, the name hydrogen is derived from Greek words meaning “maker of water.” When hydrogen and oxygen (O), water is formed.

 

Hydrogen combines with other elements, forming a number of compounds, including common ones such as water (H2O), ammonia (NH3), methane (CH4), table sugar (C12H22O11), hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hydrochloric acid (HCl), according to Jefferson Lab.

 

 

Along with carbon and oxygen, hydrogen is one of the main non-mineral nutrients that is vital to plant growth and development. Hydrogen additionally plays an important part during the photosynthesis process by binding with carbon dioxide (CO2) to produce all the essential sugars a plant needs to grow.

 

What is Hydrogen? - Occurrence of the Hydrogen Element

 

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe

Makes up to 75% of normal matter by mass and over 90% by number of atoms

Found in abundance in stars and giant gas planets

Fourteen and a half times lighter than air

The most common source for this element on earth is water which is composed two parts hydrogen to one part oxygen (H2O)

Abundance of Hydrogen

% in Universe 75% 

% in Sun 75% 

% in Meteorites 2.4% 

% in Earth's Crust 0.15% 

% in Oceans 11% 

% in Humans 10%

 

Associated Uses of Hydrogen

Manufacture of Ammonia to produce fertilizers

Manufacture of hydrogen maker/generator to make water hydrogen

Hydrogen balloons – only used for lifting weather instruments

Rocket Fuel 

Hydrogen Fuel – Upgrading Fossil fuels

Production of methanol and hydrochloric acid

Hydrogen Bomb from the nuclear fusion of hydrogen isotopes