Chemical Elements in the Universe

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All matter is made up of atoms, of which there are only about one hundred different kinds, and those are called the chemical elements. On earth, most materials are made of different elements. For example, water is made up of water molecules which each contain two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. Living things contain many thousands of different kinds of materials that are each made up of different combinations of chemical elements. About 61 % of the mass of a person is made up of oxygen atoms, about 23 % is carbon, and about 10 % is hydrogen.
The chemical elements that make up the greatest part of the mass of all matter in the Universe is listed in the following table.
Table 1: Chemical Elements in the Universe, by Mass

	Name	% Mass
H	hydrogen	75
He	helium	23
O	oxygen	1
C	carbon	0.5
Ne	neon	0.13
Fe	iron	0.11
N	nitrogen	0.10
Si	silicon	0.07
Mg	magnesium	0.06
S	sulfur	0.05

About 75 % of all matter in the Universe is made up of hydrogen atoms and 23 % of helium atoms. These two together make up 98 % of matter.
The next table shows the most abundant elements, measured by their number rather than by their mass.
Table 2: Chemical Elements in the Universe, by Number

	Name	% Number
H	hydrogen	93
He	helium	7.2
O	oxygen	0.08
C	carbon	0.05
N	nitrogen	0.09
Ne	neon	0.08
Mg	magnesium	0.03
Si	silicon	0.03
S	sulfur	0.02
Fe	iron	0.02

Of all atoms in the Universe, about 93 % is a hydrogen atom. So, hydrogen is by far the most abundant element in the Universe.

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