"element (by mass) making up Earth, while oxygen is the most common element in the Earth's crust. Chemical elements constitute all of the ordinary matter of the universe. However astronomical observations suggest that ordinary observable matter makes up only about 15% of the matter in the universe: the remainder is dark matter; the composition of this is unknown, but it is not composed of chemical elements. The two lightest elements, hydrogen and helium, were mostly formed in the Big Bang and are the most common elements in the universe. The next three elements (lithium, beryllium and boron) were formed mostly"
"numbers increase. Helium is the most common element in the universe after hydrogen, with a mass fraction of about 24%. Most of the helium in the universe was formed during Big Bang nucleosynthesis, but the amount of helium is steadily increasing due to the fusion of hydrogen in stellar nucleosynthesis (and, to a very slight degree, the alpha decay of heavy elements). Abundances on Earth follow different trends; for example, helium is only the third most abundant noble gas in the atmosphere. The reason is that there is no primordial helium in the atmosphere; due to the small mass of"
"the most common elements in the cosmos, hydrogen and carbon. It has a cosmic abundance comparable with ammonia. Hydrocarbons could act as a solvent over a wide range of temperatures, but would lack polarity. Isaac Asimov, the biochemist and science fiction writer, suggested in 1981 that poly-lipids could form a substitute for proteins in a non-polar solvent such as methane. Lakes composed of a mixture of hydrocarbons, including methane and ethane, have been detected on the surface of Titan by the ""Cassini"" spacecraft. There is debate about the effectiveness of methane and other hydrocarbons as a solvent for life compared"
"Origin and occurrence of fluorine Fluorine is relatively rare in the universe compared to other elements of nearby atomic weight. On earth, fluorine is essentially found only in mineral compounds because of its reactivity. The main commercial source, fluorite, is a common mineral. At 400 ppb, fluorine is estimated to be the 24th most common element in the universe. It is comparably rare for a light element (elements tend to be more common the lighter they are). All of the elements from atomic number 6 (carbon) to atomic number 14 (silicon) are hundreds or thousands of times more common than"
"heavier chemical elements in the known existing universe, and continues to take place to this day, creating the vast majority of the most common elements in the universe, including helium, oxygen and carbon. Most stars carry out transmutation through fusion reactions involving hydrogen and helium, while much larger stars are also capable of fusing heavier elements up to iron late in their evolution. Elements heavier than iron, such as gold and lead, are created through elemental transmutations that can only take place in supernovae - as stars begin to fuse heavier elements, substantially less energy is released from each fusion"
"other elements from carbon to magnesium are twenty or more times as common. This is because stellar nucleosynthesis processes bypass fluorine, and any fluorine atoms otherwise created have high nuclear cross sections, allowing further fusion with hydrogen or helium to generate oxygen or neon respectively. Beyond this transient existence, three explanations have been proposed for the presence of fluorine: Fluorine is the thirteenth most common element in Earth's crust at 600–700 ppm (parts per million) by mass. Elemental fluorine in Earth's atmosphere would easily react with atmospheric water vapor, precluding its natural occurrence; it is found only in combined mineral"
"particularly common, since it is the most stable element that can easily be made from alpha particles (being a product of decay of radioactive nickel-56, ultimately made from 14 helium nuclei). Elements heavier than iron are made in energy-absorbing processes in large stars, and their abundance in the universe (and on Earth) generally decreases with increasing atomic number. The following graph (note log scale) shows abundance of elements in the Solar System. The table shows the twelve most common elements in our galaxy (estimated spectroscopically), as measured in parts per million, by mass. Nearby galaxies that have evolved along similar"
"stars. Lithium, beryllium and boron are rare because although they are produced by nuclear fusion, they are then destroyed by other reactions in the stars. The elements from carbon to iron are relatively more common in the universe because of the ease of making them in supernova nucleosynthesis. Elements of higher atomic number than iron (element 26) become progressively more rare in the universe, because they increasingly absorb stellar energy in being produced. Elements with even atomic numbers are generally more common than their neighbors in the periodic table, also due to favorable energetics of formation. The abundance of elements"
"atomic number; oxygen has abundance rank 3, but atomic number 8. All others are substantially less common. The abundance of the lightest elements is well predicted by the standard cosmological model, since they were mostly produced shortly (i.e., within a few hundred seconds) after the Big Bang, in a process known as Big Bang nucleosynthesis. Heavier elements were mostly produced much later, inside of stars. Hydrogen and helium are estimated to make up roughly 74% and 24% of all baryonic matter in the universe respectively. Despite comprising only a very small fraction of the universe, the remaining ""heavy elements"" can"
"recurring (""periodic"") physical and chemical properties. Save for unstable radioactive elements with short half-lives, all of the elements are available industrially, most of them in low degrees of impurities. The lightest chemical elements are hydrogen and helium, both created by Big Bang nucleosynthesis during the first 20 minutes of the universe in a ratio of around 3:1 by mass (or 12:1 by number of atoms), along with tiny traces of the next two elements, lithium and beryllium. Almost all other elements found in nature were made by various natural methods of nucleosynthesis. On Earth, small amounts of new atoms are"
"Hydrogen Hydrogen is a chemical element with symbol H and atomic number 1. With a standard atomic weight of , hydrogen is the lightest element on the periodic table. Its monatomic form (H) is the most abundant chemical substance in the Universe, constituting roughly 75% of all baryonic mass. Non-remnant stars are mainly composed of hydrogen in the plasma state. The most common isotope of hydrogen, termed ""protium"" (name rarely used, symbol H), has one proton and no neutrons. The universal emergence of atomic hydrogen first occurred during the recombination epoch. At standard temperature and pressure, hydrogen is a colorless,"
"component of nucleic acids, amino acids and thus proteins, and the energy-carrying molecule adenosine triphosphate and is thus vital to all life on Earth. Nitrogen is the most common pure element in the earth, making up 78.1% of the entire volume of the atmosphere. Despite this, it is not very abundant in Earth's crust, making up only 19 parts per million of this, on par with niobium, gallium, and lithium. The only important nitrogen minerals are nitre (potassium nitrate, saltpetre) and sodanitre (sodium nitrate, Chilean saltpetre). However, these have not been an important source of nitrates since the 1920s, when"
"of uranium and thorium. Oxygen and silicon are notably the most common elements in the crust. On Earth and in rocky planets in general, silicon and oxygen are far more common than their cosmic abundance. The reason is that they combine with each other to form silicate minerals. In this way, they are the lightest of all of the two-percent ""astronomical metals"" (i.e., non-hydrogen and helium elements) to form a solid that is refractory to the Sun's heat, and thus cannot boil away into space. All elements lighter than oxygen have been removed from the crust in this way. ""Rare"""
"O, but also O and O. Oxygen is the third-most common element by mass in the universe (although carbon forms more of the atoms it is a lighter atom). It is highly electronegative and non-metallic, usually diatomic, gas down to very low temperatures. Only fluorine is more reactive among non-metallic elements. It is two electrons short of a full octet and readily takes electrons from other elements. It reacts violently with alkali metals and white phosphorus at room temperature and less violently with alkali earth metals heavier than magnesium. At higher temperatures it burns most other metals and many non-metals"
"of matter and energy believed to exist on the basis of scientific theory and observational deductions, but they have not been directly observed and their nature is not well understood. Most standard (baryonic) matter is found in intergalactic gas, stars, and interstellar clouds, in the form of atoms or ions (plasma), although it can be found in degenerate forms in extreme astrophysical settings, such as the high densities inside white dwarfs and neutron stars. Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe; helium is second. However, after this, the rank of abundance does not continue to correspond to the"
"is currently in operation from October to May each year. Interstellar carbon monoxide is the best general tracer of the largely invisible molecular hydrogen that constitutes most of the mass in molecular clouds. Hydrogen is the simplest and most abundant element in the universe, and molecular hydrogen is by far the most abundant molecule. Unfortunately, under typical interstellar conditions molecular hydrogen does not emit at radio or millimeter wavelengths. Carbon monoxide, however, the second most abundant ingredient in molecular clouds, has a rich and strong millimeter-wave spectrum and it seems to maintain a fairly constant ratio with molecular hydrogen of"
"in trace amounts in earth's atmosphere. Silicate minerals are the most common type of mineral on earth. Silicon makes up 14.3 parts per million of the human body on average. Only the largest stars produce silicon via stellar fusion. Germanium makes up 2 parts per million of the earth's crust, making it the 52nd most abundant element there. On average, germanium makes up 1 part per million of soil. Germanium makes up 0.5 parts per trillion of seawater. Organogermanium compounds are also found in seawater. Germanium occurs in the human body at concentrations of 71.4 parts per billion. Germanium has"
"Iron Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from ) and atomic number 26. It is a metal in the first transition series. It is by mass the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's outer and inner core. It is the fourth most common element in the Earth's crust. Its abundance in rocky planets like Earth is due to its abundant production by fusion in high-mass stars, where it is the last element to be produced with release of energy before the violent collapse of a supernova, which scatters the iron into space. Like the other"
"in abundance, sulfur is the 10th most common element in the universe. Sulfur, usually as sulfide, is present in many types of meteorites. Ordinary chondrites contain on average 2.1% sulfur, and carbonaceous chondrites may contain as much as 6.6%. It is normally present as troilite (FeS), but there are exceptions, with carbonaceous chondrites containing free sulfur, sulfates and other sulfur compounds. The distinctive colors of Jupiter's volcanic moon Io are attributed to various forms of molten, solid and gaseous sulfur. It is the fifth most common element by mass in the Earth. Elemental sulfur can be found near hot springs"
"is observed today (3 parts hydrogen to 1 part helium-4 by mass), with nearly all the neutrons in the universe trapped in helium-4. All heavier elements (including those necessary for rocky planets like the Earth, and for carbon-based or other life) have thus been created since the Big Bang in stars which were hot enough to fuse helium itself. All elements other than hydrogen and helium today account for only 2% of the mass of atomic matter in the universe. Helium-4, by contrast, makes up about 23% of the universe's ordinary matter—nearly all the ordinary matter that is not hydrogen."
"the beginning of the universe, but no rational physical scenario for this could be identified. Gradually it became clear that hydrogen and helium are much more abundant than any of the other elements. All the rest constitute less than 2% of the mass of the Solar System, and of other star systems as well. At the same time it was clear that oxygen and carbon were the next two most common elements, and also that there was a general trend toward high abundance of the light elements, especially those composed of whole numbers of helium-4 nuclei. Arthur Stanley Eddington first"
"only help ensure that the oceans do not stagnate, but also play a critical role in Earth's dynamic climate. It is generally assumed that any extraterrestrial life that might exist will be based on the same fundamental biochemistry as found on Earth, as the four elements most vital for life, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, are also the most common chemically reactive elements in the universe. Indeed, simple biogenic compounds, such as very simple amino acids such as glycine, have been found in meteorites and in the interstellar medium. These four elements together comprise over 96% of Earth's collective biomass."
"universe's 94 naturally occurring chemical elements are thought to have been produced by at least four cosmic processes. Most of the hydrogen, helium and a very small quantity of lithiumin the universe was produced primordially in the first few minutes of the Big Bang. Other three recurrently occurring later processes are thought to have produced the remaining elements. Stellar nucleosynthesis, an ongoing process inside stars, produces all elements from carbon through iron in atomic number, but little lithium, beryllium, or boron. Elements heavier in atomic number than iron, as heavy as uranium and plutonium, are produced by explosive nucleosynthesis in"
"the most abundant of the chemical elements, constituting roughly 75% of the universe's elemental mass. Stars in the main sequence are mainly composed of hydrogen in its plasma state. Elemental hydrogen is relatively rare on Earth, and is industrially produced from hydrocarbons such as methane, after which most elemental hydrogen is used ""captively"" (meaning locally at the production site), with the largest markets almost equally divided between fossil fuel upgrading, such as hydrocracking, and ammonia production, mostly for the fertilizer market. Hydrogen may be produced from water using the process of electrolysis, but this process is significantly more expensive commercially"
"the third most abundant chemical element in the universe, after hydrogen and helium. About 0.9% of the Sun's mass is oxygen. Oxygen constitutes 49.2% of the Earth's crust by mass as part of oxide compounds such as silicon dioxide and is the most abundant element by mass in the Earth's crust. It is also the major component of the world's oceans (88.8% by mass). Oxygen gas is the second most common component of the Earth's atmosphere, taking up 20.8% of its volume and 23.1% of its mass (some 10 tonnes). Earth is unusual among the planets of the Solar System"
"All heavier elements - including those necessary for rocky planets like the Earth, and for carbon-based or other life - have thus had to be produced, since the Big Bang, in stars which were hot enough to fuse not just hydrogen (for this produces only more helium), but to fuse helium itself. All elements other than hydrogen and helium today account for only 2% of the mass of atomic matter in the universe. Helium-4, by contrast, makes up about 23% of the universe's ordinary matter — nearly all the ordinary matter that isn't hydrogen. Helium-4 Helium-4 (' or ') is"
"diatomic gas with the formula N. Dinitrogen forms about 78% of Earth's atmosphere, making it the most abundant uncombined element. Nitrogen occurs in all organisms, primarily in amino acids (and thus proteins), in the nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) and in the energy transfer molecule adenosine triphosphate. The human body contains about 3% nitrogen by mass, the fourth most abundant element in the body after oxygen, carbon, and hydrogen. The nitrogen cycle describes movement of the element from the air, into the biosphere and organic compounds, then back into the atmosphere. Many industrially important compounds, such as ammonia, nitric acid,"
"°C respectively are the second-highest among all the metalloids and nonmetals, being only surpassed by boron. Silicon is the eighth most common element in the universe by mass, but very rarely occurs as the pure element in the Earth's crust. It is most widely distributed in dusts, sands, planetoids, and planets as various forms of silicon dioxide (silica) or silicates. More than 90% of the Earth's crust is composed of silicate minerals, making silicon the second most abundant element in the Earth's crust (about 28% by mass) after oxygen. Most silicon is used commercially without being separated, and often with"
"in these salts, it was concluded that a new metal must be present, which would be Osmium. Ruthenium was first discovered in the form of ruthenium oxide in a similar manner. Hassium was discovered in 1984 by a team led by Peter Armbruster and Gottfried Münzenberg by bombarding lead-208 with iron-58. Iron is the most common element within the entire earth; most of the core is iron and there is a substantial amount of iron in the mantle and crust as well. Ruthenium and osmium are two of the rarest elements on earth, with ruthenium found only in small amounts"
"at the center of the universe: we are not even made of the predominant form of matter”. The 21st century saw the share of baryonic matter in the total energy of the universe downgraded further, to perhaps as low as 1%, further extending what has been called the demise of particle chauvinism, before being revised up to some 5% of the contents of the universe. It is perhaps appropriately ironic that the least normative element in the Standard Model – the Higgs boson – is also, according to physicists like Frank Wilczek, the most likely means of interaction with the"
"in the interstellar gas. Overall, the Earth is about 1.59% aluminium by mass (seventh in abundance by mass). Aluminium occurs in greater proportion in the Earth than in the Universe because aluminium easily forms the oxide and becomes bound into rocks and aluminium stays in the Earth's crust while less reactive metals sink to the core. In the Earth's crust, aluminium is the most abundant (8.3% by mass) metallic element and the third most abundant of all elements (after oxygen and silicon). A large number of silicates in the Earth's crust contain aluminium. In contrast, the Earth's mantle is only"
"Uranium is a naturally occurring element that can be found in low levels within all rock, soil, and water. Uranium is the 51st element in order of abundance in the Earth's crust. Uranium is also the highest-numbered element to be found naturally in significant quantities on Earth and is almost always found combined with other elements. The decay of uranium, thorium, and potassium-40 in the Earth's mantle is thought to be the main source of heat that keeps the outer core liquid and drives mantle convection, which in turn drives plate tectonics. Uranium's average concentration in the Earth's crust is"
"of the order of parts per million, but H is the most abundant diatomic molecule in the universe. The interstellar medium is, indeed, dominated by hydrogen atoms. Diatomic elements played an important role in the elucidation of the concepts of element, atom, and molecule in the 19th century, because some of the most common elements, such as hydrogen, oxygen, and nitrogen, occur as diatomic molecules. John Dalton's original atomic hypothesis assumed that all elements were monatomic and that the atoms in compounds would normally have the simplest atomic ratios with respect to one another. For example, Dalton assumed water's formula"