[Graybeard]

Hydrogen is the first element on the periodic table and it has a single proton, helium next with 2 protons and so on up the periodic table adding one proton at a time to create the next element.

We need to remember that we named many of these elements long before we understood the nuclear fusion process that has the energy to bring these protons close enough together to allow their strong nuclear forces to reach out the short distance to lock.

So in a manner of speaking ... everything is built from hydrogen ... all these things can exist in a gaseous, liquid or solid state.

The fact that all elements can exist in all states and combine in a molecular form gives a huge number of possibles... each working within its own timeframe...

I believe this is evolutions engine room...

greg