Hydrogen

I'll start my element posts with element number 1 - hydrogen.  A hydrogen atom has one proton and one electron, which makes it the simplest (and lightest) element.  Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe.  Hydrogen combines with carbon and oxygen to make up compounds as varied as water, alcohol, and sugar.  It also makes up a good percentage of our bodies.

Hydrogen is lighter than air, and can be used to make balloons float.  However, it is highly flammable, so balloons are now mostly filled with helium (which is almost as light, and very stable).

One reason why the Goodyear Blimp is filled with helium instead of hydrogen.

Hydrogen combines with carbon and oxygen to make up compounds as varied as water, alcohol, and sugar.  It also makes up a good percentage of our bodies.

A neat way to make your own hydrogen is through the electrolysis of water.  You can simply hook up two wires to the terminals of a 9-volt battery, then stick the ends of the wires in a cup of water.  At the negative (-) wire, bubbles of hydrogen will form.  Of course, since water is H2O, oxygen will form at the cathode (+) wire, and you will get twice as much hydrogen as oxygen.  Here is more detail on how to carry out this fun experiment.

Hydrogen is the fuel of the stars - fusion of hydrogen provides the energy to keep our sun (and other stars) burning for billions of years.  In the process, two hydrogen atoms are converted to one atom of element number 2 - helium.