Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the most abundant chemical element in the Universe. It accounts for approximately 75% of all baryonic mass. Baryons are a class of elementary particles.

Stars, with the exception of small stars, are composed primarily of hydrogen plasma. The lightest element in the periodic table of chemical elements.

Three isotopes of hydrogen have individual names: ¹H — protium, ²H — deuterium, and ³H — tritium (radioactive). The most common isotope, protium, has a nucleus consisting of only one proton and no neutrons.

At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless, odorless, tasteless, and nontoxic gas. It is highly flammable when mixed with air or oxygen, posing a very high risk of fire or explosion.

When mixed with other oxidizing gases, such as fluorine or chlorine, hydrogen is, as mentioned, more explosive. This is because hydrogen forms covalent bonds with most non-metals, while most hydrogen on Earth is found in molecular compounds, such as water or organic substances.

Soluble in ethanol and a number of metals: iron, nickel, palladium, titanium, platinum, niobium.

In 1766, the English scientist Henry Cavendish did something that seemed strange to him: he started blowing soap bubbles. But this was not just a fun experiment. Before doing this, Cavendish noticed that when he poured sulfuric acid on iron filings, bubbles of a certain gas appeared. What kind of gas was this? The scientist passed it through a tube. The gas was invisible to the eye. Does it have an odor? No. Then Cavendish blew soap bubbles with this gas.

The bubbles rise upwards. So the gas is lighter than air. What if you ignite the gas? It burns with a blue flame. But what is surprising: when the gas burns, water is formed! Cavendish called this new gas flammable air. Because it had neither color nor odor, like ordinary air. This happened in the second half of the 18th century. Later, in 1783, the French chemist Antoine Lavoisier, on the contrary, obtained flammable gas from water. He named the new gas «hydrogen» (old writing hydrogene). This word comes from the Greek words «hydro» - water and «genes» - creator.

Later, scientists discovered that hydrogen is the lightest of all substances known to man, and its atoms are the simplest in structure.

Hydrogen is the most common element, it is found everywhere: in space, in nebulae, in stars, and in the sun.

The sun emits heat and light as a result of the transformation of hydrogen under the influence of enormous pressure and temperatures reaching tens of millions of degrees. Now scientists are trying to find out the secret of this phenomenon, if this attempt is successful, it would be possible to obtain as much energy as humans need. After all, hydrogen is abundant on Earth.

It is found in all living organisms, plants, rocks, and of course, water. Hydrogen and carbon combine to form a wide range of compounds, such as hydrocarbons found in oil, natural gas, asphalt, and gasoline. Such compounds are called hydrocarbons.

When oxygen is present in compounds of carbon and hydrogen, new substances such as carbohydrates (starch and sugar) are formed. When hydrogen combines with nitrogen, it forms ammonia gas. Ammonia is an essential material for making fertilizers.