1 H Hydrogen

Nonmetal, mass: 1.008 u, 2 stable isotopes (1, 2), abundance rank (earth/space): 9/1

Click image to magnify. Vial of glowing ultrapure hydrogen, H₂. Original size in cm: 1 x 5. How to make gases glow.

Hydrogen is the lightest and simplest element and, with a ratio of 80%, is the main ingredient of the visible universe. 20% consist of helium, the ratio of the heavier elements is below 1%. Most stars, including our Sun, generate energy by fusioning hydrogen to helium. Hydrogen is quite abundant on Earth too, opposite to helium, because it is a very reactive element and so is part of many different compounds. The most familiar of these is the one with oxygen, H₂O, water. But all the complex molecules of life contain hydrogen, too. There are three hydrogen isotopes, which as only isotopes of all elements have established proper names:
• ¹H or H, protium, normal hydrogen, abundance 99.985%
• ²H or D, deuterium, heavy hydrogen, abundance 0.015%
• ³H or T, tritium, super-heavy hydrogen, occurs only in traces
The latter is radioactive with a half-life of 12.3 years. There is hope, that in the future a lot of energy will be produced by fusioning deuterium and tritium. But this is enormously difficult, because such a fusion needs a temperature of several million degrees to run.


Right: The Great Orion Nebula, 80% hydrogen. Photo: Observatory Kempten.

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