Uses of Atomic Hydrogen
The atomic hydrogen torch uses it to generate very high temperatures near 4,000°C for welding. Hydrogen is a powerful reducing agent which eliminates the need for flux to prevent oxidation of the weld.
Atomic hydrogen determines the frequency of hydrogen masers which are used as precise frequency standards. They operate at the 1420 MHz frequency corresponding to an absorption line in atomic hydrogen.
NASA has investigated the use of atomic hydrogen as a rocket propellant. It could be stored in liquid helium to prevent it from recombining into molecular hydrogen. When the helium is vaporized, the atomic hydrogen would be released and combine back to molecular hydrogen. The result would be an intensely hot stream of hydrogen and helium gas. The liftoff weight of rockets could be reduced by 50% by this method.
Nascent hydrogen is claimed to reduce nitrites to ammonia, or arsenic to arsine even under mild conditions. Detailed scrutiny of such claims usually points to alternative pathways, not H atoms.
Read more about this topic: Nascent Hydrogen
Famous quotes containing the words atomic and/or hydrogen:
“Quite often ... these little guys, who might be making atomic weapons or who might be guilty of some human rights violation ... are looking for someone to listen to their problems and help them communicate.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“All you of Earth are idiots!... First was your firecracker, a harmless explosive. Then your hand grenade. They begin to kill your own people a few at a time. Then the bomb. Then a larger bomb, many people are killed at one time. Then your scientists stumbled upon the atom bomb—split the atom. Then the hydrogen bomb, where you actually explode the air itself.”
—Edward D. Wood, Jr. (1922–1978)