Hydrogen- the most abundant element in the universe! -Part 01-
Hydrogen, the simplest element known by its chemical symbol H, has a single proton around which an electron moves. Under normal pressure and temperature, hydrogen exists as an odorless and colorless gas. Hydrogen constitutes 75% of the mass of the universe, and this is the largest percentage, which makes this element the most abundant of all known chemical elements; it is the main constituent of the Sun (70%) and many stars (the proportion of hydrogen ranges between 35 and 90% of the volume of stars), and constitutes 90% of the dispersed matter in interstellar space. As for its abundance on Earth, it ranks third after oxygen and silicon in terms of the number of atoms, where it is associated with other atoms forming chemical compounds such as water (There are two hydrogen atoms in every water molecule (H2O)). and hydrocarbons, acids, and hydroxides; as it is present in all kinds of living matter. As a pure element in nature, hydrogen only exists in the form of hydrogen gas H2 in a very small percentage in the earth's atmosphere (0.00005%).
A brief history:
- The first to discover hydrogen and studied it scientifically was the English scientist Henry Cavendish, in 1766, then he found that water vapor is the product of burning hydrogen gas in 1781.
- As for the name of this element, it goes back to the scientist Antoine Lavoisier, who called this gas hydrogen gas, which means in Greek the water maker.
- James Dewar was the first to prepare liquid hydrogen in 1898, a year later the same scientist prepared solid hydrogen.
- Harold Urey identified the hydrogen isotope deuterium in 1931, while Ernest Rutherford, Mark Oliphant, and Paul Harteck identified the tritium isotope in 1934.
- Inflation of balloons was one of the earliest applications of hydrogen, carried out by Jacques Charles in 1783.
Hydrogen isotopes:
Protium is the name given to ordinary hydrogen atoms, which have just one proton and one electron. However, there are two additional hydrogen isotopes that are known: deuterium, which has a nucleus that consists of a proton and a neutron, and tritium (T). One proton and two neutrons make up the nucleus of tritium.
Hydrogen Isotopes
In natural water, there are 5000 protium atoms for every deuterium atom, which implies that deuterium makes up about 1 out of every 5,000 hydrogen atoms. This means that there are plenty of deuterium in our seas, so when fusion power becomes an actual fact, one gallon of seawater would produce the energy of 300 gallons of gasoline.
Concerning tritium, there is one atom for every 10^18 of protium atoms.
Cosmic rays in the upper atmosphere produce neutrons that interact with nitrogen:
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Tritium traces in the atmosphere of the earth are explained by the reaction above.
Gaseous tritium light source
The radioactive element tritium, whose half-life is approximately 12.3 years, is created when neutrons interact with an isotope of lithium:
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Bibliographic references:
[General and inorganic chemistry book- M. Shkhashirou- H. Birqdad- Y. Qodsi- University publications. Algeria]
[Book- Chimie moderne- L.Nikolaiv]