Liquid hydrogen

What is Liquid Hydrogen?

Liquid hydrogen is a very cold form of a gas called hydrogen. To become a liquid, hydrogen needs to be cooled to a super cold temperature of about −269 °C. This makes it take up much less space than hydrogen gas.

Why Do We Use It?

People use liquid hydrogen as a special fuel for rockets. It helps make the rocket engines work by mixing with liquid oxygen to create water vapor. Some cars and even a ferry called the MF Hydra also use it as fuel.

Keeping It Safe

Liquid hydrogen is very cold and needs special containers to stay liquid. It can be dangerous if it gets too warm or if there is a spark nearby, so it must be handled very carefully. Scientists use it in labs to cool tiny particles for experiments.

A Quick History

In 1898, a scientist named James Dewar was the first to turn hydrogen into a liquid. Since then, liquid hydrogen has been used in many exciting ways, like helping rockets fly high into space!