|
What the name means:
The name Hydrogen comes from the
Greek words hydro, meaning water,
and genes, meaning making.
Who identified hydrogen?: The first person to write
about making hydrogen gas was
a 16th
century alchemist named Theophrastus von
Honhemheim, better known as Paracelsus. A
century later, in 1671, another alchemist,
Robert Boyle, also described hydrogen gas
as a colourless gas given off when he added
acid to iron filings. In 1766 a scientist
called Henry Cavendish collected this
colourless gas and burnt it. He observed
that water was made when the gas burnt in
the air. It was a French chemist, called
Antoine Lavoisier, who named the gas
hydrogen.
About
hydrogen: Hydrogen gas is formed
from molecules of hydrogen. Each molecule
of hydrogen is made from two atoms of
hydrogen chemically joined together. This
makes hydrogen gas a diatomic gas.
Hydrogen atoms
probably make up close to 90% of the matter
in the universe. Stars, such as the Sun,
are primarily made of hydrogen.
Hydrogen is classed as a non-metal although
it can sometimes react like a metal. |
The Open Door Web Site 
