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because hydrogen is famously inert and helium is abundant?
Jet fuel isn't exactly inert either and we now have another 90 years of advances in technology since the Hindenburg.
Hydrogen is a 100 times harder to contain than jet fuel.
How to you get to that number?
Obviously the number is meant to be taken 99.99..% literally, which is the same as 100% by the way. And is not just another way of writing much much harder. That would be lame!
But to be fair, I rounded the 100 up from 99.7, which I found by adding 99 and 0.7.
So as you can see the math is solid.
But the problem with Hydrogen is not just that it is a gas, which is already inherently more difficult than liquids.
The real problem is that it is a gas basically consisting of only a proton with an electron. So the smallest possible atom, so small it can permeate any material that exist. The only difference is in how fast. When you then also at the same time want to make the container light weight, because if it's to heavy it completely defeats the purpose, then you have a recipe for problems.
There's a reason that despite the advantages, there has never been found a practical use for airships. It's not that we can't make them, they are just not any good for practical purposes.
Let's just... uhhh... go back to helium.
Helium is actually worse in many ways, it is expensive, and it is twice as heavy, so it requires more volume to carry the same weight.
Meaning it is more expensive, slower and more vulnerable to the winds.
Atmospheric air is 1.29 g/L. Helium is 0.18 g/L and Hydrogen 0.09 g/L.
So hydrogen can lift 0.09 g more per liter or 7% more than helium.
Not as bad as I thought, but still Helium is less efficient.
No need to go crazy, I just wanted to know where the number comes from.
But while we are here, Helium is the smallest atom at 31 pm, H is 53 pm and H2 is far off with 120 pm.
Funny how helium is smaller than hydrogen when it has 2 protons and 2 neutrons? Against hydrogen that is merely a single proton with an electron. Physics is weird sometimes. Although the explanation is simple that the 2 protons draw the 2 electrons closer, making the electron "shell" smaller.
But maybe this "size" isn't universal, maybe Hydrogen can squeeze more under pressure?
Google gives me this answer to the question "is hydrogen easier to contain than helium":
So apparently hydrogen remains the more permeable gas, and hydrogen is also chemically very active, corroding nearly everything it comes in contact with.
Edit:
I figured it out, hydrogen is more permeable because it can interact chemically, making the electron shell near irrelevant.
That’s why you put a vacuum in there. It’s made of nothing, so it doesn’t react, and there’s plenty of it in the universe. Besides, it’s also lighter than anything else you could throw in there.
Perfect. Now you only have to find a way to contain that vacuum that doesn't involve thick, heavy walls and we're good to go!
Fantastium fibers should do it.
You can also use unobtanium plates with adamantium rivets if you want to make it look cooler.
If there is every a tiny hole you go from a small hydrogen leak (dangerous but repairable) to a collapse of the entire airship and instantly falling to the ground
No risk, no reward. You wanna fly the coolest airship or not.
Or environmentally friendly if leaked. And leaks will happen.
I am somewhat confident that we could get a reliable H air ship, to be fair.