Symbol: H
Atomic Number: 1
Boiling Point: 20.28K
Melting Point: 13.81K
Density at 300K: 7.13 g/cm³
Covalent radius: 0.32
Atomic radius: 0.79
Atomic volume: 14.10 cm³/mol
First ionization potental: 13.598 V
Specific heat capacity: 14.304 Jg^-1K^-1
Thermal conductivity: 0.1815 Wm^-1K^-1
Electrical conductivity: N/A
Heat of fusion: 0.0585 kJ/mol
Heat of vaporization: 0.4581 kJ/mol
Electronegativity: 2.10 (Pauling's)

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(Named (Greek hydro, "water" + genes, "generating") by Antoine Laurent Lavoisier in reference to the generation of water from the combustion of hydrogen) A flammable, colorless, odorless, tasteless, gaseous chemical element, the lightest of the elements. Hydrogen-2 is called deuterium; hydrogen-3 is called tritium.

Symbol: H
Atomic number: 1
Atomic weight: 1.00794
Density (at 0°C with 101,325 pascals): 0.08988 g/L
Melting point: -259.14°C
Boiling point: -252.87°C
Main valence: -1, +1
Ground state electron configuration: 1s¹

Hydrogen is one of the most abundant elements in existence. It is the first element on the periodic table, because it has an atomic number of one and only contains one proton. In fact, all the other elements' order on the periodic table and the organization of the periodic table itself is based on hydrogen. It makes up 90% of all the atoms in the universe. Hydrogen only has 1 valence electron, but its ionization energy is actually greater than lithium. It was originally recognized as being a separate substance by Cavendish in 1776. Hydrogen is a flammable gas. Some people at the time thought it was pure phlogiston because of its extreme flammability. It is found in stars, and is an essential component of most planetary bodies. Hydrogen gas is one of the lightest gases. Because hydrogen is light enough to escape the Earth's gravitational pull, only a miniscule amount of it is found floating freely in the Earth's atmosphere. On Earth, almost all hydrogen "deposits" are present in combination with oxygen (which forms water), and in organic matter (plants, coal, etc.).

Ironically, hydrogen is hard to obtain in formidable quantities, despite the fact that it makes up most of the universe. Most hydrogen is produced from natural gas or coal (creating Carbon Dioxide as a by-product). Hydrogen can be separated from water by using a process called electrolysis. During electrolysis, a current of electricity is passed through the water. Water then separates into two gases, oxygen and hydrogen. Hydrogen by itself cannot be detected without special equipment, because it is an odorless and colorless gas. Hydrogen can be harvested into energy, and could even potentially fuel cars and provide heating for homes. An essential problem of using hydrogen for energy stems from the fact that it has to be separated by electrolysis. If it were separated in mass quantities, then electric generators would have to be built. To power these generators, more energy from the fossil fuels would have to be used than the amount that would be harvested from the hydrogen.

The major use of hydrogen is in ammonia, which is used as a fertilizer. It can also make methanol, gasoline, and even rocket fuel. Currently, scientists are attempting to develop an efficient car powered by hydrogen fuel cells, which can be mass-produced. The current presidential administration announced plans to use about 1.7.billion dollars in order to fund fuel cell research for hydrogen. The president, George "Dubbya" Bush, has even dubbed these hydrogen-powered fuel cell vehicles "Freedom Cars". There will be quite some time, however, before these hydrogen cars will actually begin to replace today's vehicles, because of the difficulties of harvesting the energy in an economically efficient manner.

Hydrogen can also exist as a liquid and as a liquid metal. In 1972, a group of Russian scientists may have formed metallic hydrogen. Theoretically, hydrogen turns into an incredibly hot liquid metal under extreme pressure. For example, metallic hydrogen is theorized to be in Jupiter, where the interior pressure is much greater than on Earth. This is quite possible, considering how much hydrogen Jupiter contains. Hydrogen has recently been successfully turned into a metal by Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, which used shock-compression technology in order to transform it into a metal. Liquid hydrogen is somewhat easier to create, and it is also known as deuterium. It is the second isotope of hydrogen. It is used in cryogenics and the study of superconductivity. Its melting point is a mere 20 degrees above absolute zero. Tritium is the heaviest isotope, and it is radioactive (with a half-life of 12.3 years). Tritium is found around the sun. It can be created with a nuclear bombardment of deuterium with hydrogen molecules. It can also be created in nuclear reactors. The hydrogen bomb contains tritium as the primary substance, so obviously tritium has a very good potential for destruction.

Hydrogen is one of the most important elements because it composes most of the universe, and can potentially give off a large amount of energy. Hydrogen has some very promising capabilities, and can become much more useful than it is now if properly harvested and applied.

Hydrogen, a villanelle

Hydrogen: atomic number one
Boiling point: twenty point two eight K
The most abundant gas found in the sun

Which element can never be outdone?
One gram per mole is the amount it weigh
Hydrogen: atomic number one

What color at room temp? Well, it has none.
Its symbol? Simply H, or so they say.
The most abundant gas found in the sun

Deuterium and tritium are fun
Rare isotopes of something else are they...
Hydrogen: atomic number one

This stuff has been around since time begun
It's found in space, in seas and dirt and clay
The most abundant gas found in the sun

The bonds it forms may sometimes be undone
Our need for it, though, never will decay
Hydrogen: atomic number one
The most abundant gas found in the sun

Hy"dro*gen (?), n. [Hydro-, 1 + -gen: cf. F. hydrogene. So called because water is generated by its combustion. See Hydra.] Chem.

A gaseous element, colorless, tasteless, and odorless, the lightest known substance, being fourteen and a half times lighter than air (hence its use in filling balloons), and over eleven thousand times lighter than water. It is very abundant, being an ingredient of water and of many other substances, especially those of animal or vegetable origin. It may by produced in many ways, but is chiefly obtained by the action of acids (as sulphuric) on metals, as zinc, iron, etc. It is very inflammable, and is an ingredient of coal gas and water gas. It is standard of chemical equivalents or combining weights, and also of valence, being the typical monad. Symbol H. Atomic weight 1.

<-- At. wt. = 1.008 using carbon as 12.000 -->

Although a gas, hydrogen is chemically similar to the metals in its nature, having the properties of a weak base. It is, in all acids, the base which is replaced by metals and basic radicals to form salts. Like all other gases, it is condensed by great cold and pressure to a liquid which freezes and solidifies by its own evaporation. It is absorbed in large quantities by certain metals (esp. palladium), forming alloy-like compounds; hence, in view of quasi-metallic nature, it is sometimes called hydrogenium. It is the typical reducing agent, as opposed to oxidizers, as oxygen, chlorine, etc.

Bicarbureted hydrogen, an old name for ethylene. -- Carbureted hydrogen gas. See under Carbureted. -- Hydrogen dioxide, a thick, colorless liquid, H2O2, resembling water, but having a bitter, sour taste, produced by the action of acids on barium peroxide. It decomposes into water and oxygen, and is manufactured in large quantities for an oxidizing and bleaching agent. Called also oxygenated water.<-- usually "hydrogen peroxide", or "peroxide" in weak solutions used as an antiseptic--> -- Hydrogen oxide, a chemical name for water, HO. -- Hydrogen sulphide, a colorless inflammable gas, H2S, having the characteristic odor of bad eggs, and found in many mineral springs. It is produced by the action of acids on metallic sulphides, and is an important chemical reagent. Called also sulphureted hydrogen.

 

© Webster 1913.