Element Oddities: 11 Chemical Symbols that is confusing Explained

All of the chemical symbols for elements into the table that is periodic sense; you can find a tiny selection, nevertheless, that seem to bear no reference 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 name 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 the place of salt, plus it’s this title that its symbol that is chemical, 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). Much like salt, a quantity of contemporary languages nevertheless relate to potassium as kalium, additionally the title lends the element its chemical symbol, K.

Iron – Ferrum (Fe)

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

Copper – Cuprum (Cu)

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

Silver – Argentum (Ag)

The Latin name for silver, ‘argentum’, is believed to derive initially from a language that is indo-european most most likely referring to your metal’s shininess. The nation Argentina is termed after silver (albeit indirectly as reference to the Río de la Plata) and it is the country that is only be called 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’ because of Cornwall’s famous tin mines, though likewise, other people claim that this term is just produced by the Latin.

Antimony – Stibium (Sb)

The Latin ‘stibium’ want cuckold dating site review derives through the Greek word ‘stíbi’, meaning attention paint, talking about the utilization of antimony substances being a historical eye cosmetic. This term is in turn likely produced by Arabic or Egyptian. Few nations refer to antimony as stibium today, despite its expression.

Tungsten – Wolfram (W)

Wolfram had been known as following the mineral it had been present in, wolframite. This is certainly from the German ‘wolf rahm’, or ‘wolf’s foam’, talking about the quantity of tin ‘eaten’ by the steel during its removal. Wolfram continues to be found in a few languages. Tungsten is from Swedish, and means hefty rock – notably apt, because it’s the 7th element that is densest within the regular dining 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 name 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 gold, and as a result of this they called it Mercury, following the earth closest towards the Sun. A few of the other metals understood since antiquity received 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 Ancient that is pre-dating Greek. This Latin name normally the origin regarding the English words ‘plumbing’ and ‘plumber’, as a result of the historic usage of lead in water pipelines.

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