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Hydrogen (H)

Hydrogen is the 1st element, a reactive nonmetal in the s-block. Its standard atomic weight is 1.008.

Period 1Group 1s-blockReactive nonmetal
1H

Hydrogen

1.008

What the table records

Atomic number
1
Standard atomic weight
1.008
Group
1
Period
1
Block
s-block
Category
Reactive nonmetal
Electron configuration
1s1
Valence electrons
1
Typical valence
1
Van der Waals radius
1.2 Å
Covalent radius
0.31 Å

The configuration above is the aufbau order.

How to read these numbers

The standard atomic weight is an average over the isotopes as they occur naturally, which is why it is rarely a whole number. It is the figure a molar mass calculation uses. Work in mass spectrometry wants the monoisotopic mass of a single isotope instead, which is a different number.

The two radii are not the same measurement. The covalent radius is half the distance between two bonded atoms of the element; the van der Waals radius is how close a non-bonded atom gets before repulsion takes over, and is always the larger. Space-filling models are drawn with the second, ball-and-stick models with the first — which is why the same molecule looks so different in the two.

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