Hydrogen Facts
Hydrogen Facts
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| Interesting Hydrogen Facts: |
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| Majority of the Universe's mass (75%) is comprised of Hydrogen. It is the most abundant of all chemical elements. |
| Because Hydrogen easily bonds with other nonmetals, it usually exists with other elements as a molecule instead of alone. You can find it most plentiful as water, H2O. Actually Hydrogen is the Greek word meaning water forming. |
| Hydrogen is extremely flammable and is used as a fuel source for spacecraft on the space shuttle. When combined with Oxygen in the air, it reacts violently and produces a nearly invisible flame. |
| Hydrogen is the only element that does not contain any neutrons. It contains one proton and one electron. Because of this, it is not a part of any group or family on the periodic table. Hydrogen has unique properties that are not shared with other elements. |
| Hydrogen is extremely light. In fact, Hydrogen is so light that it cannot be contained by the Earth's gravity. For this reason, there are very little "free" Hydrogen atoms on Earth. |
| Although Hydrogen exists as a gas under normal conditions, it can become a liquid when exposed to extremely high pressure. |
| Hydrogen is the main source of ammonia production which is then largely used as a fertilizer ingredient. The process used to make ammonia is the Haber process. |
| Hydrogen has two variations or isotopes - deuterium and tritium. These isotopes form when there are neutrons introduced to the nucleus of a Hydrogen atom. Deuterium and tritium are both used in nuclear weapons including the Hydrogen bomb. |
| Hydrogen can be synthetically made by many different processes. One such process is by reacting acids with certain metals. |
| The gas giant planets, such as Jupiter, are mostly composed of Hydrogen. The interior of these planets contains enough pressure to produce liquid Hydrogen. |
| Hydrogen is abundant in living matter found in plants and animals. It can be found in the form of water, of course, as well as fats and protein. |
| The production of Hydrogen had been going on for years before it was actually discovered as an element. Production mainly came as a byproduct of chemical reactions between other substances. |
| Stars, including our Sun, burn Hydrogen in the atmosphere to produce energy. The Sun actually burns Hydrogen and produces Helium. |
| Hydrogenation is the process of adding Hydrogen to another compound in order to saturate it. This saturation helps to keep ingredients together in foods such as peanut butter which increases shelf life. Hydrogenation does result in the production of trans fatty acids which are said to be highly unhealthy. |
| Hydrogen fuel cells are devices that convert the chemical energy of Hydrogen into electricity through reactions with Oxygen. Hydrogen fuel cells can be used to power electric cars and provide energy for homes. The production of these cells is very expensive, but it is expected that more hydrogen fuel plants will develop in the future. |
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