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In chemistry, different symbols have been assigned for all the 118 known chemical elements.
Much of chemistry has also evolved from alchemy. Many of the tools used by alchemists are used by chemists today.
Scientific tend to be long and incommodious to use generally. In the branch of chemistry, which includes thousands of chemical substances, the names of all these substances can be outrightly difficult to write in a chemical equation. Hence, for the purpose of convenience, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry has specified certain symbols to be used while representing a certain chemical substance. This article is mainly based on the chemical symbols of elements.
History of Chemical Symbols of Elements
The renowned English scientist John Dalton was the first to introduce symbols for different chemical elements in chemistry. Prior to that, there was no method to represent elements by using symbols.
John Dalton was an English scientist who is best known to come up with the atomic theory that explained the laws of chemical combinations. He is generally considered the father of modern atomic theory. He composed a logbook entry, “Observations on the Ultimate Particle of Bodies and their Combinations”. This was the first instance, where symbols were used to denote chemical elements. Initially, he had used symbols for 21 known elements at that time. However, soon he increased the number of elements to 36. A major drawback of these symbols was that they were incredibly complicated and difficult to make.
After a decade of Dalton’s symbols, a chemist with Swedish nationality came up with a simplified system of representation of elements. His symbols are based on the English and Latin names of elements. Almost all of Berzilius’ symbols are still in use in today’s modern world.
Origin of the Symbols for Elements
The symbols of elements have been derived from their names in English and Latin. For instance, the symbol of iron is Fe, which has been derived from the Latin name of Iron (Ferrum). Similarly, the symbol for copper is Cu, which has been derived from cuprum, its Latin name.
For multiple elements with the same starting letter, a system has been introduced. For such elements, the symbols are of two letters in which the first letter is written in capital and the second in small letters.
There are some elements in chemistry that show multiple valencies. These elements are denoted by their symbols followed by their valency in Romans enclosed in a small bracket. For example, Fe (II) and Fe (III).
List of Symbols for Elements
All the known elements have been listed on the periodic table. At present, there are 118 elements known to humans. All these symbols have been represented by their symbols on the periodic table. Any element is represented by its symbol on the periodic table. The following is a list of symbols for currently known elements:
- H- Hydrogen
- He- Helium
- Li- Lithium
- Be- Beryllium
- B- Boron
- C- Carbon
- N- Nitrogen
- O- Oxygen
- F- Fluorine
- Ne- Neon
- Na- Sodium
- Mg- Magnesium
- Al- Aluminium
- Si- Silicon
- P- Phosphorus
- S- Sulphur
- Cl- Chlorine
- Ar- Argon
- K- Potassium
- Ca- Calcium
- Sc- Scandium
- Ti- Titanium
- V- Vanadium
- Cr- Chromium
- Mn- Manganese
- Fe- Iron
- Co- Cobalt
- Ni- Nickel
- Cu- Copper
- Zn- Zinc
- Ga- Gallium
- Ge- Germanium
- As- Arsenic
- Se- Selenium
- Br- Bromine
- Kr-Krypton
- Rb- Rubidium
- Sr- Strontium
- Y- Yttrium
- Zr- Zirconium
- Nb- Niobium
- Mo- Molybdenum
- Tc- Technetium
- Ru- Ruthenium
- Rh- Rhodium
- Pd- Palladium
- Ag- Silver
- Cd- Cadmium
- In- Indium
- Sn- Tin
- Sb-Antimony
- Te-Tellurium
- I- Iodine
- Xe- Xenon
- Cs- Cesium
- Ba- Barium
- La-Lanthanum
- Ce- Cerium
- Pr-Praseodymium
- Nd- Neodymium
- Pm- Promethium
- Sm- Samarium
- Eu- Europium
- Gd- Gadolinium
- Tb- Terbium
- Dy- Dysprosium
- Ho- Holmium
- Er- Erbium
- Tm- Thulium
- Yb- Ytterbium
- Lu- Lutetium
- Hf- Hafnium
- Ta- Tantalum
- W- Tungsten
- Re- Rhenium
- Os- Osmium
- Ir- Iridium
- Pt- Platinum
- Au- Gold
- Hg- Mercury
- Tl- Thallium
- Pb- Lead
- Bi- Bismuth
- Po- Polonium
- At- Astatine
- Rn- Radon
- Fr- Francium
- Ra- Radium
- Ac- Actinium
- Th- Thorium
- Pa- Protactinium
- U- Uranium
- Np- Neptunium
- Pu- Plutonium
- Am- Americium
- Cm- Curium
- Bk- Berkelium
- Cf- Californium
- Es- Einsteinium
- Fm- Fermium
- Md- Mendelevium
- No- Nobelium
- Lr- Lawrencium
- Rf- Rutherfordium
- Db- Dubnium
- Sg- Seaborgium
- Bh- Bohrium
- Hs- Hassium
- Mt- Meitnerium
- Ds- Darmstadtium
- Rg- Roentgenium
- Cn- Copernicium
- Nh- Nihonium
- Fl- Flerovium
- Mc- Moscovium
- Lv- Livermorium
- Ts- Tensessine
- Og- Oganesson
Importance of Chemical Symbols
Chemical symbols are an important part of chemistry. Together they make up the language of chemistry. Symbols in chemistry serve a very important purpose in the language of chemistry. They are similar to the words used in English or other languages. Some of the reasons why they are important are as follows:
- They give information on the quantity of the element. They represent one mole of the said element.
- They represent the atomic mass of the element in a balanced chemical equation.
- It is tedious and inconvenient to write the full names of elements in complex chemical reactions. The use of chemical symbols makes the job easier to handle.
- Every symbol is a unique one. No two elements have the same symbol. Hence, chemical symbols of elements also serve as identification factors.
- Each of the known elements is enlisted on the cheat sheet called the periodic table. The elements are represented on the periodic table by their symbols.
Conclusion
Chemistry as a subject consists of many components like elements, compounds, ions etc. When the reactions get complex, it becomes tedious to write the names of all the elements involved. In fact, all the elements in chemistry have been assigned a symbol by the IUPAC. These chemical symbols represent the element on the periodic table and have been derived from their Latin and English names.
