Naming of elements

Chemical elements are named after various things. Sometimes it is based on the person who discovered it, or the place it was discovered. Some of them have Latin or Greek roots meaning something related to the element, for example what it was used for. There is some debate over what unnamed (due to being hypothesised or newly discovered) elements should be named - whether a number (e.g. 113), a transliterated number (e.g. ununtrium), or a placeholder name.

The chemical elements

Periodic table
Group	1	2		3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18
	Alkali metals	Alkaline earth metals														Pnicto­gens	Chal­co­gens	Halo­gens	Noble gases
Period 1	Hydro­gen 1 H																		He­lium 2 He
2	Lith­ium 3 Li	Beryl­lium 4 Be												Boron 5 B	Carbon 6 C	Nitro­gen 7 N	Oxy­gen 8 O	Fluor­ine 9 F	Neon 10 Ne
3	So­dium 11 Na	Magne­sium 12 Mg												Alumin­ium 13 Al	Sili­con 14 Si	Phos­phorus 15 P	Sulfur 16 S	Chlor­ine 17 Cl	Argon 18 Ar
4	Potas­sium 19 K	Cal­cium 20 Ca		Scan­dium 21 Sc	Tita­nium 22 Ti	Vana­dium 23 V	Chrom­ium 24 Cr	Manga­nese 25 Mn	Iron 26 Fe	Cobalt 27 Co	Nickel 28 Ni	Copper 29 Cu	Zinc 30 Zn	Gallium 31 Ga	Germa­nium 32 Ge	Arsenic 33 As	Sele­nium 34 Se	Bromine 35 Br	Kryp­ton 36 Kr
5	Rubid­ium 37 Rb	Stront­ium 38 Sr		Yttrium 39 Y	Zirco­nium 40 Zr	Nio­bium 41 Nb	Molyb­denum 42 Mo	Tech­netium 43 Tc	Ruthe­nium 44 Ru	Rho­dium 45 Rh	Pallad­ium 46 Pd	Silver 47 Ag	Cad­mium 48 Cd	Indium 49 In	Tin 50 Sn	Anti­mony 51 Sb	Tellur­ium 52 Te	Iodine 53  I	Xenon 54 Xe
6	Cae­sium 55 Cs	Ba­rium 56 Ba		Lute­tium 71 Lu	Haf­nium 72 Hf	Tanta­lum 73 Ta	Tung­sten 74 W	Rhe­nium 75 Re	Os­mium 76 Os	Iridium 77 Ir	Plat­inum 78 Pt	Gold 79 Au	Mer­cury 80 Hg	Thallium 81 Tl	Lead 82 Pb	Bis­muth 83 Bi	Polo­nium 84 Po	Asta­tine 85 At	Radon 86 Rn
7	Fran­cium 87 Fr	Ra­dium 88 Ra		Lawren­cium 103 Lr	Ruther­fordium 104 Rf	Dub­nium 105 Db	Sea­borgium 106 Sg	Bohr­ium 107 Bh	Has­sium 108 Hs	Meit­nerium 109 Mt	Darm­stadtium 110 Ds	Roent­genium 111 Rg	Coper­nicium 112 Cn	Unun­trium 113 Uut	Flerov­ium 114 Fl	Unun­pentium 115 Uup	Liver­morium 116 Lv	Unun­septium 117 Uus	Unun­octium 118 Uuo
				Lan­thanum 57 La	Cerium 58 Ce	Praseo­dymium 59 Pr	Neo­dymium 60 Nd	Prome­thium 61 Pm	Sama­rium 62 Sm	Europ­ium 63 Eu	Gadolin­ium 64 Gd	Ter­bium 65 Tb	Dyspro­sium 66 Dy	Hol­mium 67 Ho	Erbium 68 Er	Thulium 69 Tm	Ytter­bium 70 Yb
				Actin­ium 89 Ac	Thor­ium 90 Th	Protac­tinium 91 Pa	Ura­nium 92 U	Neptu­nium 93 Np	Pluto­nium 94 Pu	Ameri­cium 95 Am	Curium 96 Cm	Berkel­ium 97 Bk	Califor­nium 98 Cf	Einstei­nium 99 Es	Fer­mium 100 Fm	Mende­levium 101 Md	Nobel­ium 102 No
black=solid green=liquid red=gas gray=unknown Color of the atomic number shows state of matter (at 0 °C and 1 atm) Primordial From decay Synthetic Border shows natural occurrence of the element Background color shows subcategory in the metal–metalloid–nonmetal trend: Metal Metalloid Nonmetal Unknown chemical properties Alkali metal Alkaline earth metal Lan­thanide Actinide Transition metal Post-​transition metal Polyatomic nonmetal Diatomic nonmetal Noble gas

As shown by the table above, as of March 2014, there are 118 known elements. They are arranged by atomic number and atomic mass. The chemical elements of the periodic table are broken up into different forms. There are the alkali metals, alkaline earth, inner-transition, lanthanide, actinide, transition metal, basic metal, semi metal, nonmetal, halogen, transactinide, and noble gases.^[1]

What are they named after?

People

Chemical elements are commonly named after people. However, very few are named after their discoverers, and very few are named after living people. The element seaborgium was named after Glenn Seaborg, who was alive at the time.^[2] It has also been suggested that Lecoq de Boisbaudran named the element gallium after himself (Boisbaudran's first name means "rooster" and the Latin word "gallus" also means "rooster").^[3] Most of the human namesakes of the transfermium elements are also recipients of the Nobel Prize. Such elements include lawrencium, rutherfordium, seaborgium, bohrium, and roentgenium, but not mendelevium, nobelium, or copernicium.^[4][5] Other elements that are named after people include fermium, einsteinium, curium, and gadolinium.^[6][7] Additionally, samarium is named after a mineral, which is in turn named after Vasili Samarsky-Bykhovets.^[8]

Places on earth

Some chemical elements are named after places on the planet earth. Four such elements are named after for currently existing countries, only one of which, germanium (named after Germany^[9]), is stable and occurs in more than trace amounts on earth. The other three are polonium (named after Poland^[10]), francium (named after France^[11]), and americium (named after the Americas).^[12] Other elements are named after modern states or cities, with berkelium and californium being named after the city and the state where these elements were discovered.^[13] The element dubnium was also named after its place of discovery (Dubna, Russia).^[14]

Several places in Scandinavia have elements named after them. Yttrium, terbium, erbium, and ytterbium are all named after the Swedish village of Ytterby.^[15] Additionally, holmium is named after the city of Stockholm.^[15] Scandium is named after the Latin word for Scandinavia and thulium is named after the mythical word for the same region.^[15][16]

A number of elements are named after the Latin words for various places. The element ruthenium is named for the region including Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia.^[17] Lutetium is named after Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris and hafnium is named for Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen.^[18][19] Holmium is named after Holmia, which is Latin for Stockholm.^[20] Copper's name comes from an Old English word for the Latin name for Cyprus.^[21]

The names of both magnesium and manganese derive from the Greek region of Magnesia.^[22]

Astronomical objects

A few elements are named after astronomical places, including moons, dwarf planets, and planets. Uranium, neptunium, and plutonium were all named after the planets Uranus, Neptune, and Pluto, respectively (although Pluto is no longer considered a planet.)^[23][24][25] The element selenium derives from the Greek word for the Moon and cerium is named for the dwarf planet Ceres.^[26][27]

Miscellaneous

Several of the elements with the highest atomic numbers (113 and higher) do not have a formal name, but are instead named using a mixture of Greek and Latin roots referring to the element's atomic number.^[28] Examples of such elements include ununtrium, ununpentium, ununseptium, and ununoctium.^[29] This system was first created in 1979.^[30]

Chemical symbol

Once the element has been named, a one, two, or three letter symbol must be ascribed to it so it can be easily referred to in such contexts as the periodic table. The first letter is always capitalised. While the symbol is often a contraction of the element name, sometimes the symbol and name do not match up as the symbol is based on the Latin or Greek version of the element name, such as "Pb" for lead (plumbum in Latin).

Temporary names

In 1979, IUPAC published recommendations for their systematic element names to be used for yet unnamed or undiscovered elements^[31] as a placeholder, until the discovery of the element is confirmed and a permanent name is decided on. The recommendations are mostly ignored among scientists, who simply call these elements by their atomic number Z, for example "element 117" (instead of "ununseptium"), with the symbol of (117) or even simply 117.^[32]

Naming controversies

The naming of the synthetic elements dubnium and seaborgium generated a significant amount of controversy, referred to as the Transfermium Wars. The Americans wished to name element 105 hahnium, while the Russians preferred the name dubnium. The Americans also wished to name element 106 seaborgium. This naming dispute ran from the 1970s (when the elements were discovered) to the 1990s, when the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry created a tentative list of the element names for elements 104 to 109. The Americans, however, refused to agree with these names because seaborgium was not it the list. Thus, the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry reconsidered, and in 1996 named element 105 dubnium and element 106 seaborgium.^[33]

Alternative forms of an element, names indicating molecular structure, and names of compounds

When a pure element, comprising only one type of atom, nevertheless exists in multiple forms (allotropes) with different structure and properties, they are generally given different names; for example graphite and diamond are both forms of the element carbon. Even for elements such as nitrogen having only one allotrope, a name such as dinitrogen may be used to indicate its molecular structure N₂ as well as its elemental composition. The naming of chemical compounds comprising more than one element is a complex subject, discussed at length in the article on chemical nomenclature.

See also

References

2. Kean, 129
3. Kean, 55
4. Gray, 230-231
5. Kean, 273
6. Gray, 220-229
7. Emsley, 188
8. Emsley, 464
9. Emsley, 197
10. Emsley, 412
11. Emsley, 185
12. Gray, 85
13. Kean, 119
14. Emsley, 157
15. Kean, 62
16. Emsley, 468
17. Emsley, 458
18. Emsley, 299
19. Emsley, 210
20. Emsley, 224
21. Emsley, 145
22. Emsley, 310
23. Emsley, 405
24. Emsley, 345
25. Emsley, 594
26. Emsley, 120
27. Emsley, 475
28. Emsley, 577
29. Periodic Table, retrieved March 27, 2014
30. Emsley, 569
31. Chatt, J. (1979). "Recommendations for the naming of elements of atomic numbers greater than 100". Pure and Applied Chemistry 51 (2): 381–384. doi:10.1351/pac197951020381.
32. Haire, Richard G. (2006). "Transactinides and the future elements". In Morss; Edelstein, Norman M.; Fuger, Jean. The Chemistry of the Actinide and Transactinide Elements (3rd ed.). Dordrecht, The Netherlands: Springer Science+Business Media. ISBN 1-4020-3555-1.
33. Kean, 127-128

Bibliography

• Theodore Gray (2009), The Elements: A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe, Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, Inc.
• Sam Kean (2011), The Disappearing Spoon and Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World From the Periodic Table of the Elements, Back Bay Books/Little Brown and Company
• John Emsley (2011), Nature's Building Blocks: An A-Z Guide to the Elements - New Edition, Oxford University Press