# Most abundant gas on Earth

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [July 23, 2000, 7:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533 "2000-07-23T07:52:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Phobos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Phobos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Phobos)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533/21 "2000-07-24T13:01:00Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Manlob \*  
> \*\*On “Who Wants to be a Millionare” about six months ago, they did ask the question “What is the most abundant gas in the earth’s atmosphere?”  
> a) Hydrogen  
> b) Nitrogen  
> c) Oxygen  
> d) Carbon
> 
> I thought the contestant might think it was oxygen, since many people do not realize the atmosphere is mostly nitrogen. He did not know the answer so he used a “phone a friend” lifeline to call his buddy who is a high school science teacher. The science teacher’s advice was a riot: “It is definitely NOT nitrogen or oxygen. So I am certain it is either hydrogen or carbon, but I am not sure which one.” The contestant ended up guessing one of those two and of course, got it wrong. Just goes to show that you shouldn’t believe everything they teach in high school.  
> \*\*

That’s sad for a science teacher. Makes me wonder if my state’s teacher testing requirements are actually a good idea (there’s lots of controversy about it).

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**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533/22 "2000-07-24T22:22:55Z")

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OK, you guys were right. I don’t know what I was thinking when I said hydrogen may be the most common element on Earth. I guess I spend too much time with organic chemistry, where pretty much every molecule has some hydrogens in it. Damn. I hate it when I’m proven wrong.

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**Author:** ![\_Tim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/_/e47c2d/32.png) [@\_Tim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/_Tim)\
**Post date:** [July 24, 2000, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533/23 "2000-07-24T23:38:33Z")

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I’ll extend Pantellerite’s table to include hydrogen: my reference (Chemistry of the Elements, Greenwood and Earnshaw) lists hydrogen as the tenth most common element in the Earth’s crust, at 1520 ppm (by weight).

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**Author:** ![Danielinthewolvesden](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce7236/32.png) [@Danielinthewolvesden](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Danielinthewolvesden)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533/24 "2000-07-25T00:33:50Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by hightechburrito \*
> 
> Go eff yourself. \*\*

We like folks here with a sense of humor. As you do not seem to have one, draw your own conclusions, kid.

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**Author:** ![hightechburrito](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f6c823/32.png) [@hightechburrito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hightechburrito)\
**Post date:** [July 25, 2000, 7:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-abundant-gas-on-earth/26533/25 "2000-07-25T07:59:20Z")

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Take it easy man, I was just effing with ya’

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