- Hydrogen is one of the most bountiful elements in the world and is present in a vast array of chemical structures, but does not generally occur in its pure form in nature. In order to create pure hydrogen, scientists must extract it using chemical reactions that separate it from air and water. In its pure state, with normal temperatures, hydrogen takes the form of a highly flammable gas.
- "Crystal structure" could refer to two different aspects of hydrogen: the shape the element takes when in a solid form, or the structure it most naturally assumes at a chemical level when stopped or arranged into a molecule. The first answer depends upon what hydrogen looks like when frozen. Since this requires temperatures lower than 434 degrees Fahrenheit (the melting point of hydrogen), the element is not seen frozen in nature and is rarely frozen for any application outside of scientific study. The structure hydrogen atoms take, however, is hexagonal, and is determined by hydrogen bonding capabilities. This is why structures with hydrogen bonds, like snowflakes, are six-sided.
- Hydrogen is one of the most simple elements, containing only one electron and one proton in its normal state, without even an additional neutron. With only one oxidation state, it is one of the lightest elements.
- Hydrogen is sometimes used as a fuel, but because of its flammable nature, it has only select applications in this field. Pure hydrogen is also used in hydrogen fuel cells to generate an electrochemical reaction that creates a charge yet emits only water as a by-product.
- Since hydrogen is so common and naturally a part of other compounds, it can be found bonded to many different chemical families, in which its crystalline structure changes, depending on the bonds it has with other substances. Common compounds include hydrogen chlorides, hydrogen halides, and, of course, the many different hydrocarbons.
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