Question

Write a note on names and symbols of elements.

Answer 1

• The names of various elements are in English, German, Latin, or Greek. Names of some elements are also derived from their regions of origin and from the names of scientists who discovered them.
• Use of symbols for representing an element was first introduced by John Dalton. Jons Jacob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist, was the first one to introduce the present system of using letters or symbols for the representation of elements.
• A unique symbol for each element was allocated by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC).
• The symbols are usually the short forms or abbreviated names of the elements.
• The symbols of most of the elements are denoted by the first letter of their names. For example, the symbol of hydrogen is H and that of oxygen is O.
• In some cases, the name of more than one element begins with the same letter, for example, carbon and chlorine. In this case, carbon is represented by C, and chlorine is represented by any two letters of its name. Therefore, the symbol of chlorine is Cl.
• When a symbol is represented by two letters of its name, the first letter is written in upper case and the second letter is written in lower case.
• The symbols of some elements are assigned to their scientific or Latin, Greek or German names.
• For example, the symbol Pb of lead is derived from its Latin name plumbum.