3
2
Hydrogen - The basic concepts
There is no doubt that hydrogen gas is the most interesting form of alternative energy of the future.
Because kg1 of hydrogen puts kWh/kg33,33 on the road, neither petrol (12 kWh/kg) nor natural gas
(max. 13.1 kWh/kg) can keep up. Hydrogen, with the symbol H for hydrogenium ("the water
producer"), is the most common element in the universe. It represents %75 of the total mass of our
solar system. But on our planet Earth it is rather scarce. Only % of 0,12the total mass consists of
hydrogen. Most of it is bound as
2
HO as "energy-less" water in the oceans.
Water,
2
HO
, is hydrogen
gas H
2
that has already been burned by oxygen. This happens, for example, when sugar from food is
converted into energy. Hydrogen therefore provides energy not only for fuel cells in cars, but also for
cells in the body. The
hydrogen atom H
(also called hydrogen radical), consists only of a positively
charged nucleus, the proton, which is orbited by a negatively charged electron. This smallest of all
atoms is also called
"nascent" hydrogen: This means "hydrogen in the birth phase", because an H atom does not
stay alone for long, but then forms with a second H atom what
we usually call hydrogen, H
2
or
"molecular" hydrogen, an electrically neutral gas.
Hydrogen gas
H
2
is often confused with the
hydrogen ion H
+
. This corresponds to an H atom without
an electron, in short it is a single proton. Positively charged hydrogen ions are the measure of "acid".
They are formed, for example, by splitting off a
hydroxide ion (OH
-
)
from water (
2
HO). If there are
more hydroxide ions than hydrogen ions (H
+
ions) in an aqueous solution, it reacts alkaline; if the H
+
ions (protons) predominate, it reacts acidic. A proton is only about 1/2000th lighter than an H atom,
but its chemistry is completely different.
Negatively charged hydrogen ions H
-
(hydride ions) also exist theoretically. However, they are so
unstable that they only occur permanently in compounds. Our hydrogen gas infusion machine deals
exclusively with the electrically neutral H gas, i.e. in no way with an ion.
Water molecule
H
Atom
Molecular
Hydrogen
Hydrogen
Ion
Hydroxide
ion
Hydride ion
Summary of Contents for Monmi-Tec HIM 3.0 ppm
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