Question

Why is Hydrogen the most common element?

Answer 1

I think it is because a proton is able to capture an electron to create a Hydrogen and a H+ is one proton. You could also site that stars are made up of 80% Hydrogen.

Answer 2

Thank you! I'm sorry i couldn't figure out your question about mechanisms. Hope you get it though.

Answer 3

I wonder where you got that answer @hba ? http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_hydrogen_the_most_common_element_in_the_universe lol

Answer 4

You are free:

to Share — to copy, distribute and transmit the work
to Remix — to adapt the work

Answer 5

^ Creative Commons License :)

Answer 6

Yeah i couldnt imagine, i don't even know what Organic 1 is.
And thanks @hba.

Answer 7

ChmE your answer really doesn't answer the question.

Furthermore I don't understand how the ability of hydrogen to lose or accept electrons is helpful, yes this is true but that is chemistry, this question is concerned more with.

Every larger element was likely created by fusion of hydrogen, since hydrogen's are essentially single protons. It takes a lot of energy to bring two nuclei together to form a larger element (unless quantum tunneling plays a roll).

So it is likely that hydrogen was formed first in the early universe then fusion of hydrogen into larger elements occurred, this of course is a pretty uneducated guess on my part it is probably best your check out the sources I listed below.

I would recommend skimming this text book chapter for your answer:
http://catalog.flatworldknowledge.com/bookhub/reader/4309?e=averill_1.0-ch20_s06

This poster also offers an alright explanation but it is not backed up by anything
http://www.physicsforums.com/showthread.php?t=421516

Answer 8

I mean this question is concerned more with astrophysics

Answer 9

Because the early universe was expanding extremely rapidly. Before a certain time, call it T1, the temperature was so high that stable nuclei could not form at all -- they would just "evaporate" the same instant they formed, just like you can't form stable droplets of liquid water above the boiling point of water. The universe consisted of just a soup of protons, neutrons, electrons and photons. The equilibrium mix is about 1 neutron for every 6 protons, because neutrons are slightly heavier than protons. (There is a broad general principle in statistical mechanics that says states of matter with higher energy are less probable -- occur less often -- than states of matter of lower energy. The same principle tells you why there are far more cool red stars than hot blue stars, or why there are more molecules of nitrogen and oxygen at sea level than at the top of Mt. Everest.)

But after a short time later, call it T2, the temperature falls too far for fusion reactions between positively charged nuclei to take place, because you need very high temperatures to overcome the electrostatic repulsion between positive charges. T2 differs from T1 by only about 3 minutes, I believe. So there was only about 3 minutes when the universe was hot enough to allow fusion, but cool enough to allow the results of fusion to remain. The only process that had time to complete was the absorption of all the neutrons by protons to form, first, deuterium, and then the fusion of deuterium to create He-4.

Not all of the neutrons made it into deuterium, because free neutrons decay into protons and electrons with a half life of about 15 minutes. Apparently about 20% of the neutrons decayed, and final result is that you have a mixture of about 75% (by mass) hydrogen, 25% He-4, and a very small amount of deuterium when the temperature falls too far for fusion reactions to take place.

Had the temperatures stayed higher longer, then more fusion reactions could have taken place, using up H and He and generating heavier elements. This is exactly what goes on in stars, and all the elements heavier than He were made in just this way -- in fusion reactions that take place in stars. But the universe is relatively young, so not a whole lot of the truly tremendous amount of H and He with which we started has been fused into heavier elements.

Answer 10

It may also be worth nothing that H is the most common element in the *Universe*. It is certainly not the most common element on Earth. Far from it. The Earth's gravity is too low to keep hydrogen in its gaseous form, so almost all of it escaped long ago. The only stuff remaining is mostly trapped in the form of water (H2O). Every time free H2 is released into the Earth's atmosphere, if it does not chemically recombine, it drifts up to the top of the atmosphere and out into space, gone forever. The same is true about helium, by the way, which never recombines -- which is why helium is probably the only truly irreplaceable resource on the planet. Once it's released to the atmosphere, after your balloon pops or deflates, it's lost to outer space.

The most common element by mass in the Earth as a whole is iron, because the bulk of the core is made of iron. But the most common element on the crust of the Earth is oxygen.