Hydrogen

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................................................................................................................................................ **Hydrogen **

By: Janson Erhard and Will Masinda

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Welcome! We're glad you came to visit. In this page, you shall learn and discover the incredible world of the element Hydrogen.

=Introduction = Since hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table of elements it has the least number of protons and electrons as any other element, it also has only an atomic mass of one. This causes hydrogen to have a unique configuration with one proton and one electron whereas other elements have neutrons in the nucleus. Hydrogen is odorless and colorless much like the noble gases, but unlike noble gases it reacts with many metals and other elements. Hydrogen is the lightest element and the most abundant gas in the universe. Hydrogen is largely used to create energy, in the sun it goes through fusion to create radiant energy, but on earth we use hydrogen fuel cells and burn fossil fuels and biomass to create electricity. Hydrogen is an important and distinct element, it is what makes the stars burn bright in our sky, makes up the water we drink, and is the fuel that lights our houses, there isn't much like it.

 =History = Hydrogen was first discovered and identified by Henry Cavendish. A British scientist who reacted zinc with hydrochloric acid and got hydrogen gas. He did a demonstration with the hydrogen by setting a spark to the gas and igniting it creating water, which later led to the discovery of what water is made of, hydrogen and oxygen. Later, a french chemist Antoine Lavoisier gave the gas its name. Hydrogen is derived from the Greek words "hydro" meaning water and "genes" meaning born of. The first practical uses of hydrogen were in the 1920's when Rudolf Erren, a German Scientist incorporated hydrogen or hydrogen mixes as fuel into internal engines in cars, buses, and submarines. Also hydrogen gas was used in air balloons to inflate, such as the Hindenburg, which burst into flames and crashed in New Jersey in 1937. Today hydrogen is used to create electricity and is the primary fuel for launching rockets for NASA. Hydrogen has a long history with humble beginnings. But it grew to be integrated into many important uses today.



 =Economics = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The core of our modern day lifestyle is our access and use of electricity and energy, and hydrogen plays a big part in every type of energy production today. The economics of the consumptions and production of electricity is enormous; imagine every person who pays an electric bill in the world to a company that somehow uses hydrogen to produce that electricity. If someone somehow owned all the hydrogen on our earth, he would be entirely in control of our energy supply. Hydrogen is called an energy carrier which is produced from materials called primary resources (hydrogen is a secondary source of energy). This basically means that hydrogen makes up the materials we use to make electricity and energy, but not just the obvious fossil fuels. The element hydrogen is in some way involved in every way we produce electricity today. It is in the hydrocarbon compounds that are in fossil fuels, biomass, natural gas, it is in the water that turns the hydroelectric turbines, goes through fusion in the sun to give it the light rays which power our solar panels, and is part of the production of nuclear energy. Hydrogen is at the forefront of new alternative energy sources, such as cars that run on hydrogen, or hydrogen fuel cells which mainly only give off water as a result of their use. Hydrogen could be one the most economically important elements on the periodic table of elements, and is shaping up to be one of the most necessities in the coming years.

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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Environment = <span style="color: #000000; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">Hydrogen is everywhere in nature because water is a required part of the natural world. It is most prominently found in water, given water is made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Hydrogen is also used in photosynthesis in the creation of ATP. On Earth it makes up about .14% of the crust, and hydrogen gas makes up a very small amount of the mass of the atmosphere. This goes against hydrogen levels in the universe, where scientist say that over 90% of all the atoms in the universe are hydrogen atoms. Hydrogen is very reactive and will react with most natural substances almost instantaneously. This includes reactions with air to make water. Hydrogen gas is also produces sometimes in nature during reactions between reactive metals. Hydrogen is prevalent in acids and bases in nature, where they will have varying amounts of H+ and OH- ions. Acidity is very important in nature, and must be regulated so that living things, starting from the cellular level, do not die off. There are 2 isotopes of hydrogen that are found in nature, Deuterium and Tritium. Where a normal <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">hydrogen atom makes up about 99.98% of all hydrogen atoms found in nature where only about .015% of hydrogen atoms are the Deuterium isotope. The natural abundance of Tritium is even less than that and its abundance are so small that it is almost irrelevant.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Health = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The element Hydrogen is invaluable to human health. It even makes up about 61% of the atoms in the human body. The most important part is that hydrogen is an ingredient of almost all of the organic requirements of life, such as one of the basic elements in water molecules and one of the many chemicals in the air we breathe air. Because hydrogen is basic to all life, it is used in the body for almost everything. If large amounts of hydrogen are taken in to the body, a deficiency of oxygen can occur, which could lead to many effects, including death. Because hydrogen is everywhere, somebody really can’t have a deficiency of hydrogen, but it is possible to have a deficiency of water and other organic materials that are made up of hydrogen. Hydrogen is also very important it the process of creating ATP, which is the primary source of energy in the human body. Hydrogen gas, H2, can be very harmful to humans if inhaled and could possibly lead to death.There are an incredible number of processes where hydrogen is involved in the body. For example, foods are broken down through hydrolysis, where water molecules get in-between bonds to decompose a substance. Many molecules in the body are made of hydrogen, or at least need hydrogen to work properly, such as hydrocarbons like fats and cholesterol. Hydroxyl groups are other important molecules in the human body that require hydrogen.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 120%;">Chemistry/Physics = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The physical characteristics of hydrogen are very interesting, particularly due to the fact that hydrogen behaves differently than all other elements in many different ways. It has the smallest atomic number and mass number of all the elements, with and atomic number of one and a mass number of 1.007825 amu. The density of hydrogen is also very small, with a density of only .00899*10^3 g/cm cubed. Its melting point is -259.2 degrees Celsius and its Boiling point is -252.8 degrees Celsius. Hydrogen had only 1 electron, which is in the s orbital, making its electron configuration 1s1. There are 2 isotopes of hydrogen, which are Deuterium with 2 electrons and Tritium with 3 neutrons. The symbol for hydrogen is H and it can be found in the first column and first period of the periodic table, in the Alkali Metals. A unique property of hydrogen is that it only requires 2 electrons for a full outer orbital, unlike the other elements that require 8 electrons. The most common ion of hydrogen is the H+ ion, which is the basic molecule for acidity.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Surprising Fact = <span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The energy from the sun comes from a constant fusion process of hydrogen being transformed into helium and giving off massive amounts of energy.

<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =<span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Video = <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Check out this video on how dangerous a hydrogen reaction can be! - The Hindenburg Airship uses lifting gas to get the ships lift. Usually helium and hydrogen are used. There are significant differances between the two. Hydrogen is flammable when helium is not and helium is much more expensive and harder to acquire. Initially helium was chosen to be used in the Hindenburg but after a ban on helium exports in the only helium exporting country the plans were shifted to hydrogen. The lifting gas in the Hindenburg was entirely made of hydrogen.

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<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 150%; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"> =Citations=

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 * 1) Lenntech BV. "Hydrogen (H) - Chemical Properties, Health and Environmental Effects." //Water Treatment and Purification - Lenntech//. Lenntech Water Treatment & Purification Holding B.V, 2009. Web. 03 Jan. 2011. [].
 * 2) The U.S. Energy Information Administration. "EIA Energy Kids - Hydrogen." //U.S. Energy Information Administration - EIA - Independent Statistics and Analysis//. U.S. Energy Information Administration. Web. 03 Jan. 2011. [].
 * 3) //The History of Hydrogen//. Washington, DC: The National Hydrogen Association. PDF. []
 * 4) MacGregor, Anne. "The Hindenburg Disaster: Probable Cause" (Documentary film). //Moondance Films/Discovery Channel,// Broadcast air date: 2001.
 * 5) "PH and Alkalinity." //Water Treatment and Purification - Lenntech//. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. <[]>.
 * 6) "Hydrogen." //Periodic Table of Elements and Chemistry//. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. <[]>.
 * 7) "List of Elements of the Periodic Table - Sorted by Abundance in Earth's Crust." //Israel Science and Technology Homepage//. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. <[]>.
 * 8) "Hydrogen." //Welcome to Nobel.scas.bcit.ca//. Web. 07 Jan. 2011. <http://nobel.scas.bcit.ca/resource/ptable/h.htm>.
 * 9) Andrew, Barron. "Isotopes of Hydrogen." //Connexions//. Connexions, n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. <cnx.org/content/m31520/latest/>.\
 * 10) "H." //RCN D.C. Metro | High-Speed Internet, Digital Cable TV & Phone Service Provider//. N.p., n.d. Web. 7 Jan. 2011. [].