Element Oddities: 11 Confusing Chemical Symbols Explained

All of the chemical symbols for elements when you look at the regular dining table make sense; you will find a little selection, but, that seem to bear no reference to their element’s title. Following the regular table of refused element names a couple of days ago, questions regarding these elements arrived up, so right here’s a review of their confusing symbols, combined with the reasons for them.

Sodium – Natrium (Na)

Sodium’s Latin name, ‘natrium’, derives through the Greek ‘nítron’ (a title for salt carbonate). Its initial supply will probably be the Arabic work ‘natrun’. A number of modern languages still call the element natrium as opposed to salt, also it’s this title 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 remaining 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 expression 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 right 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 was ‘cyprium’, which it self originates from ‘kypros’, the Greek title for Cyprus. The area of Cyprus ended up being centuries that are famous for the copper reserves. The title had been fundamentally simplified to ‘cuprum’, and also this eventually morphed to the English variation, copper.

Silver – Argentum (Ag)

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

Tin – Stannum (Sn)

Tin’s Latin title, ‘stannum’, might 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’ because of Cornwall’s famous tin mines, though likewise, other people declare that this term is simply produced from the Latin.

Antimony – Stibium (Sb)

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

Tungsten Wolfram that is)

Wolfram had been known as after the mineral it absolutely was present in, wolframite. This really is from the‘wolf that is german, or ‘wolf’s foam’, talking about the actual quantity of tin ‘eaten’ because of the steel during its removal. Wolfram remains found in a few languages. Tungsten is from Swedish, and means hefty rock – significantly apt, because it’s the 7th element that is densest 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 use 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 provide ‘hydrargyrum’. The initial English title for the element ended up being ‘quicksilver’. Alchemists considered that it is near to silver, and this is why they known as it Mercury, following the earth closest towards the Sun. A few of the other metals understood since antiquity got names corresponding towards the planets, too, but Mercury’s is the only person that’s stuck.

Lead – Plumbum

Lead’s Latin title, ‘plumbum’, most most most likely originally derives from a language Ancient that is pre-dating Greek. This Latin name normally the foundation regarding the English words that is‘plumbing ‘plumber’, because of the historic utilization of lead in water pipelines.

References & Further Reading