Chemical symbol

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The periodic table, elements being denoted by their symbols Simple Periodic Table Chart-blocks.svg
The periodic table, elements being denoted by their symbols

Chemical symbols are the abbreviations used in chemistry, mainly for chemical elements; but also for functional groups, chemical compounds, and other entities. Element symbols for chemical elements, also known as atomic symbols, normally consist of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet and are written with the first letter capitalised.

Contents

History

Earlier symbols for chemical elements stem from classical Latin and Greek words. For some elements, this is because the material was known in ancient times, while for others, the name is a more recent invention. For example, Pb is the symbol for lead (plumbum in Latin); Hg is the symbol for mercury (hydrargyrum in Greek); and He is the symbol for helium (a Neo-Latin name) because helium was not known in ancient Roman times. Some symbols come from other sources, like W for tungsten (Wolfram in German) which was not known in Roman times.

A three-letter temporary symbol may be assigned to a newly synthesized (or not yet synthesized) element. For example, "Uno" was the temporary symbol for hassium (element 108) which had the temporary name of unniloctium, based on the digits of its atomic number. There are also some historical symbols that are no longer officially used.

Extension of the symbol

Annotated example of an atomic symbol Atomic Symbol Mg.svg
Annotated example of an atomic symbol

In addition to the letters for the element itself, additional details may be added to the symbol as superscripts or subscripts a particular isotope, ionization, or oxidation state, or other atomic detail. [1] A few isotopes have their own specific symbols rather than just an isotopic detail added to their element symbol.

Attached subscripts or superscripts specifying a nuclide or molecule have the following meanings and positions:

Many functional groups also have their own chemical symbol, e.g. Ph for the phenyl group, and Me for the methyl group.

A list of current, dated, as well as proposed and historical signs and symbols is included here with its signification. Also given is each element's atomic number, atomic weight, or the atomic mass of the most stable isotope, group and period numbers on the periodic table, and etymology of the symbol.

Symbols for chemical elements

List of chemical elements
Z SymbolNameOrigin of name [2] [3]
1H Hydrogen Greek elements hydro- and -gen, meaning 'water-forming'
2He Helium Greek hḗlios, 'sun'
3Li Lithium Greek líthos, 'stone'
4Be Beryllium beryl, a mineral (ultimately from the name of Belur in southern India)
5B Boron borax, a mineral (from Arabic bawraq )
6C Carbon Latin carbo, 'coal'
7N Nitrogen Greek nítron and -gen, meaning 'niter-forming'
8O Oxygen Greek oxy- and -gen, meaning 'acid-forming'
9F Fluorine Latin fluere, 'to flow'
10Ne Neon Greek néon, 'new'
11Na Sodium English soda (the symbol Na is derived from Neo-Latin natrium , coined from German Natron , 'natron')
12Mg Magnesium Magnesia, a district of Eastern Thessaly in Greece
13Al Aluminium alumina, from Latin alumen (gen. alumni), 'bitter salt, alum'
14Si Silicon Latin silex, 'flint' (originally silicium)
15P Phosphorus Greek phōsphóros, 'light-bearing'
16S Sulfur Latin sulphur, 'brimstone'
17Cl Chlorine Greek chlōrós, 'greenish yellow'
18Ar Argon Greek argós, 'idle' (because of its inertness)
19K Potassium Neo-Latin potassa, 'potash' (the symbol K is derived from Latin kalium )
20Ca Calcium Latin calx, 'lime'
21Sc Scandium Latin Scandia, 'Scandinavia'
22Ti Titanium Titans, the sons of the Earth goddess of Greek mythology
23V Vanadium Vanadis, an Old Norse name for the Scandinavian goddess Freyja
24Cr Chromium Greek chróma, 'colour'
25Mn Manganese corrupted from magnesia negra ; see Magnesium
26Fe Iron English word (the symbol Fe is derived from Latin ferrum )
27Co Cobalt German Kobold , 'goblin'
28Ni Nickel Nickel, a mischievous sprite of German miner mythology
29Cu Copper English word, from Latin cuprum , from Ancient Greek Kýpros 'Cyprus'
30Zn Zinc Most likely from German Zinke , 'prong' or 'tooth', though some suggest Persian sang , 'stone'
31Ga Gallium Latin Gallia , 'France'
32Ge Germanium Latin Germania , 'Germany'
33As Arsenic French arsenic , from Greek arsenikón 'yellow arsenic' (influenced by arsenikós , 'masculine' or 'virile'), from a West Asian wanderword ultimately from Old Iranian *zarniya-ka, 'golden'
34Se Selenium Greek selḗnē , 'moon'
35Br Bromine Greek brômos , 'stench'
36Kr Krypton Greek kryptós , 'hidden'
37Rb Rubidium Latin rubidus , 'deep red'
38Sr Strontium Strontian, a village in Scotland
39Y Yttrium Ytterby, a village in Sweden
40Zr Zirconium zircon, a mineral
41Nb Niobium Niobe, daughter of king Tantalus from Greek mythology
42Mo Molybdenum Greek molýbdaina, 'piece of lead', from mólybdos , 'lead'
43Tc Technetium Greek tekhnētós , 'artificial'
44Ru Ruthenium Neo-Latin Ruthenia , 'Russia'
45Rh Rhodium Greek rhodóeis , 'rose-coloured', from rhódon, 'rose'
46Pd Palladium the asteroid Pallas, considered a planet at the time
47Ag Silver English word (The symbol derives from Latin argentum )
48Cd Cadmium Neo-Latin cadmia , from King Kadmos
49In Indium Latin indicum , 'indigo' (colour found in its spectrum)
50Sn Tin English word (The symbol derives from Latin stannum )
51Sb Antimony Latin antimonium , the origin of which is uncertain: folk etymologies suggest it is derived from Greek antí ('against') + mónos ('alone'), or Old French anti-moine , 'Monk's bane', but it could plausibly be from or related to Arabic ʾiṯmid , 'antimony', reformatted as a Latin word. (The symbol derives from Latin stibium 'stibnite'.)
52Te Tellurium Latin tellus , 'the ground, earth'
53I Iodine French iode , from Greek ioeidḗs , 'violet'
54Xe Xenon Greek xénon , neuter form of xénos 'strange'
55Cs Caesium Latin caesius , 'sky-blue'
56Ba Barium Greek barýs , 'heavy'
57La Lanthanum Greek lanthánein , 'to lie hidden'
58Ce Cerium the dwarf planet Ceres, considered a planet at the time
59Pr Praseodymium Greek prásios dídymos , 'green twin'
60Nd Neodymium Greek néos dídymos , 'new twin'
61Pm Promethium Prometheus of Greek mythology
62Sm Samarium samarskite, a mineral named after Colonel Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets, Russian mine official
63Eu Europium Europe
64Gd Gadolinium gadolinite, a mineral named after Johan Gadolin, Finnish chemist, physicist and mineralogist
65Tb Terbium Ytterby, a village in Sweden
66Dy Dysprosium Greek dysprósitos , 'hard to get'
67Ho Holmium Neo-Latin Holmia, 'Stockholm'
68Er Erbium Ytterby, a village in Sweden
69Tm Thulium Thule, the ancient name for an unclear northern location
70Yb Ytterbium Ytterby, a village in Sweden
71Lu Lutetium Latin Lutetia , 'Paris'
72Hf Hafnium Neo-Latin Hafnia, 'Copenhagen' (from Danish havn )
73Ta Tantalum King Tantalus, father of Niobe from Greek mythology
74W Tungsten Swedish tung sten , 'heavy stone' (The symbol is from wolfram, the old name of the tungsten mineral wolframite)
75Re Rhenium Latin Rhenus , 'the Rhine'
76Os Osmium Greek osmḗ , 'smell'
77Ir Iridium Iris, the Greek goddess of the rainbow
78Pt Platinum Spanish platina , 'little silver', from plata 'silver'
79Au Gold English word (The symbol derives from Latin aurum )
80Hg Mercury Mercury, Roman god of commerce, communication, and luck, known for his speed and mobility (The symbol is from the element's Latin name hydrargyrum , derived from Greek hydrárgyros , 'water-silver')
81Tl Thallium Greek thallós , 'green shoot or twig'
82Pb Lead English word (The symbol derives from Latin plumbum )
83Bi Bismuth German Wismut, from weiß Masse 'white mass', unless from Arabic
84Po Polonium Latin Polonia , 'Poland' (the home country of Marie Curie)
85At Astatine Greek ástatos , 'unstable'
86Rn Radon radium
87Fr Francium France
88Ra Radium French radium, from Latin radius , 'ray'
89Ac Actinium Greek aktís , 'ray'
90Th Thorium Thor, the Scandinavian god of thunder
91Pa Protactinium proto- (from Greek prôtos , 'first, before') + actinium, which is produced through the radioactive decay of protactinium
92U Uranium Uranus, the seventh planet in the Solar System
93Np Neptunium Neptune, the eighth planet in the Solar System
94Pu Plutonium the dwarf planet Pluto, considered the ninth planet in the Solar System at the time
95Am Americium The Americas, as the element was first synthesised on the continent, by analogy with europium
96Cm Curium Pierre Curie and Marie Curie, French physicists and chemists
97Bk Berkelium Berkeley, California, where the element was first synthesised, by analogy with terbium
98Cf Californium California, where the element was first synthesised
99Es Einsteinium Albert Einstein, German physicist
100Fm Fermium Enrico Fermi, Italian physicist
101Md Mendelevium Dmitri Mendeleev, Russian chemist and inventor who proposed the periodic table
102No Nobelium Alfred Nobel, Swedish chemist and engineer
103Lr Lawrencium Ernest O. Lawrence, American physicist
104Rf Rutherfordium Ernest Rutherford, New Zealand chemist and physicist
105Db Dubnium Dubna, Russia, where the Joint Institute for Nuclear Research is located
106Sg Seaborgium Glenn T. Seaborg, American chemist
107Bh Bohrium Niels Bohr, Danish physicist
108Hs Hassium Neo-Latin Hassia, 'Hesse' (a state in Germany)
109Mt Meitnerium Lise Meitner, Austrian physicist
110Ds Darmstadtium Darmstadt, Germany, where the element was first synthesised
111Rg Roentgenium Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, German physicist
112Cn Copernicium Nicolaus Copernicus, Polish astronomer
113Nh Nihonium Japanese Nihon , 'Japan' (where the element was first synthesised)
114Fl Flerovium Flerov Laboratory of Nuclear Reactions, part of JINR, where the element was synthesised; itself named after Georgy Flyorov, Russian physicist
115Mc Moscovium Moscow Oblast, Russia, where the element was first synthesised
116Lv Livermorium Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in Livermore, California, which collaborated with JINR on its synthesis
117Ts Tennessine Tennessee, United States
118Og Oganesson Yuri Oganessian, Russian physicist

Symbols and names not currently used

The following is a list of symbols and names formerly used or suggested for elements, including symbols for placeholder names and names given by discredited claimants for discovery.

Systematic chemical symbols

These symbols are based on systematic element names, which are now replaced by trivial (non-systematic) element names and symbols. Data is given in order of: atomic number, systematic symbol, systematic name; trivial symbol, trivial name.

When elements beyond oganesson (starting with ununennium, Uue, element 119), are discovered; their systematic name and symbol will presumably be superseded by a trivial name and symbol.

Alchemical symbols

The following ideographic symbols were used in alchemy to denote elements known since ancient times. Not included in this list are spurious elements, such as the classical elements fire and water or phlogiston, and substances now known to be compounds. Many more symbols were in at least sporadic use: one early 17th-century alchemical manuscript lists 22 symbols for mercury alone. [10]

Planetary names and symbols for the metals – the seven planets and seven metals known since Classical times in Europe and the Mideast – was ubiquitous in alchemy. The association of what are anachronistically known as planetary metals started breaking down with the discovery of antimony, bismuth and zinc in the 16th century. Alchemists would typically call the metals by their planetary names, e.g. "Saturn" for lead and "Mars" for iron; compounds of tin, iron and silver continued to be called "jovial", "martial" and "lunar"; or "of Jupiter", "of Mars" and "of the moon", through the 17th century. The tradition remains today with the name of the element mercury, where chemists decided the planetary name was preferable to common names like "quicksilver", and in a few archaic terms such as lunar caustic (silver nitrate) and saturnism (lead poisoning). [10]

Daltonian symbols

Dalton's symbols for the more common elements, as of 1806, and the relative weights he calculated. The symbols for magnesium and calcium ("lime") were replaced by 1808, and that for gold was simplified. Dalton's Element List.jpg
Dalton's symbols for the more common elements, as of 1806, and the relative weights he calculated. The symbols for magnesium and calcium ("lime") were replaced by 1808, and that for gold was simplified.

The following symbols were employed by John Dalton in the early 1800s as the periodic table of elements was being formulated. Not included in this list are substances now known to be compounds, such as certain rare-earth mineral blends. Modern alphabetic notation was introduced in 1814 by Jöns Jakob Berzelius; its precursor can be seen in Dalton's circled letters for the metals, especially in his augmented table from 1810. [11] A trace of Dalton's conventions also survives in ball-and-stick models of molecules, where balls for carbon are black and for oxygen red.

Daltonian symbols for the elements
SymbolDalton's nameModern nameAtomic
number
NotesRefs
img.char.
Hydrogen symbol (Dalton).svg hydrogen 1or [12]
Beryllium symbol (Dalton).svg glucine beryllium 4alchemical symbol for 'sugar' [13]
New moon symbol.svg carbone, carbon carbon 6 [12]
Nitrogen symbol (Dalton).svg azote nitrogen/azote7alchemical symbol for niter [12]
Oxygen symbol (Dalton).svg oxygen 8or [12]
Sodium symbol (Dalton).svg soda sodium 11 [12]
Magnesium symbol (Dalton).svg magnesia magnesium 12alchemical symbol for magnesia [12]
Aluminium symbol (Dalton).svg alumine aluminium 13(4 dots) [12]
Silicon symbol (Dalton).svg 🟕 silex silicon 14 [13]
Phosphorus symbol (Dalton).svg phosphorus 15(3 radii) [12]
Sulphur symbol (Dalton).svg 🜨 sulphur 16 [12]
Potassium symbol (Dalton).svg potash potassium 19(3 vertical lines) [12]
Calcium symbol (Dalton).svg lime calcium 20or ◎ [12]
Titanium symbol (Dalton).svg titanium 22(enclosing circle) Tit [13]
Manganese symbol (Dalton).svg manganese 25(enclosing circle) Ma [13]
Iron symbol (Dalton).svg iron 26 [12]
Nickel symbol (Dalton).svg nickel 28 [12]
Cobalt symbol (Dalton).svg cobalt 27(enclosing circle) Cob [13]
Copper symbol (Dalton).svg copper 29(black letter in red circle) [12]
Zinc symbol (Dalton).svg zinc 30 [12]
Arsenic symbol (Dalton).svg arsenic 33(enclosing circle) Ar [13]
Strontium symbol (Dalton).svg strontian strontium 38(4 ticks) [12]
Yttrium symbol (Dalton).svg ⊕︀︀ yttria yttrium 39(plus does not touch circle) [13]
Zirconium symbol (Dalton).svg zircone zirconium 40(vertical zigzag) [13]
Silver symbol (Dalton).svg silver 47 [12]
Tin symbol (Dalton).svg tin 50 [13]
Antimony symbol (Dalton).svg antimony 51(enclosing circle) An [13]
Barium symbol (Dalton).svg barytes barium 56(6 ticks) [12]
Cerium symbol (Dalton).svg cerium 58(enclosing circle) Ce [13]
Tungsten symbol (Dalton).svg tungsten 74(enclosing circle) Tu [13]
Platinum symbol (Dalton).svg platina platinum 78(black letter in red circle) [12]
Gold symbol (Dalton).svg gold 79 [12]
Mercury symbol (Dalton).svg mercury 80(dotted inside perimeter) [12]
Lead symbol (Dalton).svg lead 82 [12]
Bismuth symbol (Dalton).svg bismuth 83 [13]
Uranium symbol (Dalton).svg uranium 92 [13]

Symbols for named isotopes

The following is a list of isotopes which have been given unique symbols. This is not a list of current systematic symbols (in the uAtom form); such a list can instead be found in Template:Navbox element isotopes. The symbols for isotopes of hydrogen, deuterium (D) and tritium (T), are still in use today, as is thoron (Tn) for radon-220 (though not actinon; An usually instead means a generic actinide). Heavy water and other deuterated solvents are commonly used in chemistry, and it is convenient to use a single character rather than a symbol with a subscript in these cases. The practice also continues with tritium compounds. When the name of the solvent is given, a lowercase d is sometimes used. For example, d6-benzene or C6D6 can be used instead of C6[2H6]. [14]

The symbols for isotopes of elements other than hydrogen and radon are no longer used in the scientific community. Many of these symbols were designated during the early years of radiochemistry, and several isotopes (namely those in the decay chains of actinium, radium, and thorium) bear placeholder names using the early naming system devised by Ernest Rutherford. [15]

Other symbols

General:

From organic chemistry:

Exotic atoms:

Hazard pictographs are another type of symbols used in chemistry.

See also

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 53 54 Name changed due to a standardization of, modernization of, or update to older formerly-used symbol.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 Name designated by discredited/disputed claimant.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 Name proposed prior to discovery/creation of element or prior to official renaming of a placeholder name.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Temporary placeholder name.

References

  1. IUPAC Provisional Recommendations: IR-3: Elements and Groups of Elements (PDF) (Report). IUPAC. March 2004.
  2. "Periodic Table – Royal Society of Chemistry". www.rsc.org.
  3. "Online Etymology Dictionary". etymonline.com.
  4. 1 2 Holden, N. E. (12 March 2004). "History of the Origin of the Chemical Elements and Their Discoverers". National Nuclear Data Center.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 Leal, João P. (2013). "The Forgotten Names of Chemical Elements". Foundations of Science . 19 (2): 175–183. doi:10.1007/s10699-013-9326-y. S2CID   254511660.
  6. 1 2 Biggs, Lindy; Knowlton, Stephen (3 February 2022). "Fred Allison". Encyclopedia of Alabama.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Fontani, Marco; Costa, Mariagrazia; Orna, Mary Virginia (2014). The Lost Elements: The Periodic Table's Shadow Side. Oxford University Press. ISBN   9780199383344.
  8. 1 2 Praseodymium Archived 2018-10-08 at the Wayback Machine on was.chemistryexplained.com.
  9. Rang, F. (1895). "The Period-Table". The Chemical News and Journal of Physical Science. 72: 200–201.
  10. 1 2 Maurice Crosland (2004) Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry
  11. Berzelius, Jöns Jakob. "Essay on the Cause of Chemical Proportions, and on Some Circumstances Relating to Them: Together with a Short and Easy Method of Expressing Them." Annals of Philosophy 2, Pp.443–454 (1813); 3, Pp.51–52, 93–106, 244–255, 353–364 (1814); (Subsequently republished in "A Source Book in Chemistry, 1400-1900", eds. Leicester, Henry M. & Herbert S. Klickstein. 1952.)
  12. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 Dalton, John (1808). "III: On Chemical Synthesis - Section 1: Explanation of the Plates - Plate 4: Elements". A New System of Chemical Philosophy. Part I. Manchester: Printed by S. Russell for R. Bickerstaff, Strand, London. pp. 217–220.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Dalton, John (1810). "V: Compounds of two Elements - Section 12: Earths - Explanation of Plates - Plate 5: Elements". A New System of Chemical Philosophy. Part II. Manchester: Printed by Russell & Allen for R. Bickerstaff, Strand, London. pp. 546–548.
  14. IUPAC. "Isotopically Modified Compounds". IUPAC. Retrieved 31 March 2015.
  15. Morgan, G. T., ed. (1905). "Annual Reports on the Progress of Chemistry for 1904". Journal of the Chemical Society. 1. Gurney & Jackson: 268. In view of the extraordinarily complex nature of the later changes occurring in Radium, Rutherford has proposed a new and convenient system of nomenclature. The first product of the change of the radium emanation is named radium A, the next radium B, and so on.
  16. Jurczyk, M.; Rajewski, W.; Majchrzycki, W.; Wójcik, G. (1999-08-30). "Mechanically alloyed MmNi5-type materials for metal hydride electrodes". Journal of Alloys and Compounds. 290 (1–2): 262–266. doi:10.1016/S0925-8388(99)00202-9.