Hydrogen [ Return towards  Hydrogen Planet  ]

Hydrogen, an element with the chemical symbol H, is the simplest and oldest atom in the world. Its core contains only a single particle: a proton, around which an electron turns. It is the first element that was formed in the universe, 4.5 billion years ago. The hydrogen atom gave birth to all the other atoms that compose matter.

When two hydrogen atoms combine, the result is the hydrogen molecule H₂, that is sometimes called “dihydrogen”. It is the lightest gas in the world (1 liter weighs less than 90 milligrams). It is barely present in our atmosphere, which only contains 0.00005% gaseous hydrogen.

It is therefore necessary to produce hydrogen by extracting it from the molecules such as water, composed of one oxygen atom and two hydrogen atoms and that covers 70% of the earth, or hydrocarbons composed of carbon and hydrogen.