This superacid so readily protonates basically everything that it’s impossible to make or store in any significant quantity, though in 2019 it was found to be present in the interstellar medium. For 10 points each:
[10h] Name this cation that is the strongest known acid. With a pKa of -63, this superacid is a few dozen orders of magnitude stronger than fluoroantimonic acid.
ANSWER: helium hydride ion [or hydridohelium(1+), helonium, or HeH+]
[10e] Though helium hydride is stable in the interstellar medium, on Earth it must be prepared in situ, typically by having this species undergo beta decay to helium-3.
ANSWER: tritium [or T; accept hydrogen-3 or 3H; prompt on hydrogen or H; reject “hydrogen” or “H” with anything else before or after it]
[10m] Another unstable molecule that exists in the interstellar medium is the diatomic form of this element, which unexpectedly has a double bond. That molecule is even stranger because both components of the double bond are pi bonds.
ANSWER: carbon [or C]
<Gerhardt Hinkle, Chemistry>