If hydrogen comprises 75% of baryonic mass, what is its proportion by the *number* of atoms?
Answer
About nine out of every ten atoms
When measuring the cosmic inventory, the distinction between mass fraction and atomic count yields a different perspective on hydrogen's prevalence. While hydrogen accounts for approximately 75% of the universe's baryonic mass, its dominance is even more pronounced when counting individual atoms. Because hydrogen is the lightest element, having the fewest nucleons per atom, it occupies a larger relative share of the atom count than its mass share suggests. Specifically, about nine out of every ten atoms observable in the cosmos are hydrogen atoms, underscoring its overwhelming numerical superiority as the universe's fundamental constituent.
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