Element Oddities: 11 Chemical Symbols that is confusing Explained

The majority of the chemical symbols for elements when you look at the table that is periodic sense; you can find a tiny selection, nonetheless, that seem to bear no regards to their element’s title. A few days ago, questions about these elements came up, so here’s a look at their confusing symbols, along with the reasons behind them after the periodic table of rejected element names.

Sodium – Natrium (Na)

Sodium’s Latin name, ‘natrium’, derives through the Greek ‘nítron’ (a title for salt carbonate). Its initial supply may very well be the work ‘natrun’ that is arabic. Lots of contemporary languages nevertheless call the element natrium in place of salt, also it’s this name that its chemical expression, Na, arises from.

Potassium – Kalium (K)

‘Kalium’ is potassium’s Latin name, and derives from the Arabic ‘al qal ī y’, meaning “calcined ashes” (the ashes left whenever plant product is burned). A number of modern languages still refer to potassium as kalium, and the name lends the element its chemical symbol, K as with sodium.

Iron – Ferrum (Fe)

Iron’s Latin title, ‘ferrum’, provides it its icon Fe; it simply means ‘iron’ or ‘sword’, and it is possibly of Semitic origin. The element is famous by an array of different names in numerous languages, with a few sources suggesting there are over 200 names that are different it. There’s an inventory of 213 of these right here.

Copper – Cuprum (Cu)

There’s no shortage of elements called after places, but copper’s title is much more simple than many. Copper’s Latin title had been ‘cyprium’, which it self originates from ‘kypros’, the Greek title for Cyprus. The area of Cyprus ended up being famous hundreds of years ago because of its copper reserves. The title ended up being fundamentally simplified to ‘cuprum’, and also this sooner or later morphed to the English variation, copper.

Silver – Argentum (Ag)

The Latin title for silver, ‘argentum’, is thought to derive initially from a language that is indo-european most most likely referring to the metal’s shininess. The united states Argentina is known as after silver (albeit indirectly as mention of the Río de la Plata) and it is the only nation to be known as after having a chemical element, as opposed to the other means around.

Tin – Stannum (Sn)

Tin’s Latin title, ‘stannum’, could be produced from the Indo-European ‘stag’ (dripping) because tin melts at a temperature that is low. There’s also speculation it may be produced by the Cornish ‘stean’ as a result of Cornwall’s famous tin mines, though likewise, other people declare that this term is just based on the Latin.

Antimony – Stibium (Sb)

The Latin ‘stibium’ derives through the Greek word ‘stíbi’, meaning attention paint, talking about the utilization of antimony substances being a historical eye cosmetic. This term is with in turn likely produced from Arabic or Egyptian. Few nations relate to antimony as stibium today, despite its icon.

Tungsten Wolfram that is)

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Wolfram ended up being called following the mineral it absolutely was present in, wolframite. That is from the‘wolf that is german, or ‘wolf’s foam’, talking about the quantity of tin ‘eaten’ because of the steel during its removal. Wolfram continues to be utilized in several languages. Tungsten is from Swedish, and means hefty rock – significantly apt, because it’s the 7th densest element within the regular dining dining table.

Silver – Aurum (Au)

The Latin title for gold had been ‘aurum’, meaning ‘yellow’, derived through the word ‘aurora’ (‘dawn’). The name ‘gold’, used in Germanic languages, means ‘yellow, shining metal’; a great many other European languages utilize derivatives of aurum.

Mercury – Hydrargyrum (Hg)

Mercury’s initial Latin title was actually ‘argentum vivum’ (living silver), but Latin later borrowed through the Greek ‘hydrargyros’ (fluid silver) to offer ‘hydrargyrum’. The English that is original name the element ended up being ‘quicksilver’. Alchemists considered that it is near to silver, and this is why they called it Mercury, following the earth closest towards the Sun. A few of the other metals understood since antiquity were given names corresponding to your planets, too, but Mercury’s is the only person that’s stuck.

Lead – Plumbum

Lead’s Latin title, ‘plumbum’, most most likely originally derives from a language pre-dating Ancient Greek. This Latin name normally the origin of this English words ‘plumbing’ and ‘plumber’, as a result of the historic utilization of lead in water pipelines.

References & Further Reading