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Why is hydrogen dangerous in airships?

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Thanks for the A2A Have you ever done that high school experiment where you put a lit splint of wood into a test tube where you've made hydrogen and hear it go "whoop!" as it explodes? read more

Chemically, atoms desire to have a complete outer electron shell. In the first "layer", that means 2 electrons. Hydrogen had just 1. So it's very interested in combusting. read more

But airships DO have a practical replacement for hydrogen, so there is no justification for the risks of using hydrogen; put another way, the small benefits of hydrogen do not come close to outweighing its risks when there is a safe replacement (helium). read more

Much of an airship’s weight is fixed (the dead weight of the ship’s structure and engines, and required weight such as crew and ballast) so the entire effect of the reduced lift of helium is absorbed by the ship’s payload; a helium-inflated airship therefore has a much lower payload for passengers and freight, and a much shorter range (because it can carry less fuel), than a hydrogen-inflated airship of the same size. read more

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The Dead Dream of the Dirigible - The Atlantic
Source: theatlantic.com

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