Hydrogen

Hydrogen is the first element in the periodic table and is represented by the Symbol H. The element's Atomic number is 1 and its atomic weight is 1.00794. Hydrogen’s standard state is a gas at temperatures above 298° Kelvin. The CAS Registry ID is 1333-74-0 and both its group and period are 1. Hydrogen belongs to the S block of the periodic table and it is colorless, odorless, tasteless, as well as nontoxic and non metallic. http://www.webelements.com/hydrogen/

Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe and has many uses not only in its natural state but when it combines with other elements.http://www.webelements.com/hydrogen/ The most common hydrogen compound on earth is water. Water is formed when 2 atoms of hydrogen and 1 atom of oxygen bond together.http://www.helium.com/items/1126646-why-ice-floats-on-water http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/waterproperties.html

Although Hydrogen had been known of for some time the first person to actually define what it was and what it’s properties were was Henry Cavendish in 1766. Before then it had simply been known as “an air which bursts forth as the wind” as described by Swiss alchemist Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus in 1520.http://www.making-hydrogen.com/history-of-hydrogen.html It was not until lthe late 1780s that the gas was given the name of hydrogen by Antoine Lavoisier.http://scienceworld.wolfram.com/biography/Lavoisier.html

As time progressed scientists began to find uses for this light and volatile gas. In 1783 French physicist Jacques Alexander Cesar Charles launched the first hydrogen balloon which was unmanned but 3 months later he flew the first manned balloon flight. The process of electrolysis to separate hydrogen and oxygen from water was discovered by English scientists in 1800. The principle of the hydrogen fuel cell was discovered in 1838 and proven on a practical scale in 1945.http://www.getenergysmart.org/Files/Schools/Hydrogen/3HistoryofHydrogen.pdf

Discoveries continued on into the 20th century as other uses for hydrogen were discovered such as powering rockets and automobiles. As oil prices rise and the demand for alternate energy resources increases come countries, Iceland for one, are looking into establishing an infrastructure for distributing hydrogen as a fuel source for transportation and industry.http://www.getenergysmart.org/Files/Schools/Hydrogen/3HistoryofHydrogen.pdf