Naming of chemical elements - wikipedia Naming of chemical elements Chemical elements may be named from various sources : sometimes based on the person who discovered it, or the place it was discovered. Some have Latin or Greek roots deriving from something related to the element, for example some use to which it may have been put. Contents 1 Known elements 2 Etymology 2.1 People 2.2 Places on earth 2.3 Astronomical objects 2.4 Minerals 2.5 Temporary names 3 Chemical symbol 4 Naming controversies 5 Alternative forms of an element, names indicating molecular structure, and names of compounds 6 References 6.1 Bibliography Known elements Periodic table Group 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 Hydrogen 1H Helium 2He Lithium 3Li Beryllium 4Be Boron 5B Carbon 6C Nitrogen 7N Oxygen 8O Fluorine 9F Neon 10 Ne Sodium 11 Na Magnesium 12 Mg Aluminium 13 Al Silicon 14 Si Phosphorus 15 P Sulfur 16 S Chlorine 17 Cl Argon 18 Ar 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 Lanthanum 57 La 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 Actinium 89 Ac 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 Nihonium 113 Nh Flerovium 114 Fl Moscovium 115 Mc Livermorium 116 Lv Tennessine 117 Ts Oganesson 118 Og 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 Lutetium 71 Lu 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 Lawrencium 103 Lr 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. Etymology Main article : List of chemical element name etymologies Element names can refer to : a mythological concept or character ( including an astronomical object ), a mineral or similar substance, a place, or geographical region, a property of the element, or a scientist. People Main article : List of scientists whose names are used in chemical element names Chemical elements are sometimes named after people, especially the synthetic elements discovered ( created ) after ca. 1940. However, very few are named after their discoverers, and even fewer are named after living people. The element seaborgium is named after Glenn Seaborg, who was alive at the time ; and oganesson is named after Yuri Oganessian ( still living as of May 2017 ). Many of the transuranic elements are named after recipients of the Nobel Prize, including : bohrium ( Niels Bohr ), curium ( Marie and Pierre Curie ), einsteinium ( Albert Einstein ), fermium ( Enrico Fermi ), lawrencium ( Ernest Lawrence ), roentgenium ( Wilhelm Röntgen ), rutherfordium ( Ernest Rutherford ), and seaborgium ( Glenn T. Seaborg ). Elements in the same group named in honour of scientists who did not received the prize include : copernicium ( Nicolaus Copernicus ), flerovium ( Georgy Flyorov ), meitnerium ( Lise Meitner ), mendelevium ( Dmitri Mendeleev ), and nobelium ( Alfred Nobel ). The non-transuranic element samarium is named after Vasili Samarsky - Bykhovets, and gadolinium is indirectly named ( via the mineral gadolinite ), after Johan Gadolin. Lecoq de Boisbaudran, who named the element gallium after his native land of France ( from Latin Gallia meaning Gaul ) denied that the element 's naming was for a pun on his own name ( `` le coq '' means `` the rooster '' in French, as does `` gallus '' in Latin ). Places on earth Main article : List of places used in the names of chemical elements Some chemical elements are named after places on the planet earth. Five are named after currently existing countries -- polonium ( named after Poland ), francium and gallium ( named after France ), nihonium ( named after Japan ) and germanium ( named after Germany ). Only gallium and germanium are stable and occur in more than trace amounts on Earth. Americium is named after the Americas, in analogy with europium being named after Europe. Other elements are named after modern states or cities, including berkelium, californium and tennessine named respectively after the American of Berkeley and the states of California and Tennessee where they were discovered ; and dubnium and moscovium, similarly named after Russia 's Dubna and Moscow. Several places in Scandinavia have elements named after them : Yttrium, terbium, erbium, and ytterbium are all named for the Swedish village of Ytterby, where their ores were first found. Holmium is named after Holmia, Latin for the Swedish capital Stockholm. Scandium comes from the Latin word for Scandinavia. Thulium is from the Ancient Greek word for the remote Arctic land that the Romans called Ultima Thule. A number of other elements are named after classical words for various places. Ruthenium is from the Latin name for the region including Belarus, Ukraine, and Russia. Lutetium is named after Lutetia, the Latin name for Paris. Hafnium is named for Hafnia, the Latin name for Copenhagen. Copper 's name comes from an Old English word derived from the Latin name for the island of Cyprus. The names of both magnesium and manganese derive from the Greek region of Magnesia. Astronomical objects The naming of elements from astronomical objects stems from the ancient association of metals with the various planets and their gods, as follows : mercury with the fast - moving planet Mercury ; copper with the brilliant, beautiful planet Venus ; iron with Mars ( named for the Roman god of war ) ; tin with Jupiter ( named for the Roman king of the gods ) ; and lead with the slow - moving planet Saturn ( named for the ancient, slow god who was the father of Jupiter ). The Sun and the Moon were associated with gold and silver, respectively. A few other elements are directly named for astronomical bodies, including planets, dwarf planets, a few asteroids, our star, our planet, and our Moon. Uranium, neptunium, plutonium, cerium, and palladium were named after Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Ceres, and Pallas respectively, which were at the time of their naming all considered to be planets. ( Today, Pluto and Ceres are considered to be dwarf planets, and Pallas is considered to be an asteroid. ) The name of the element selenium came from the Greek word for the Moon ( Σελήνη, Selene ). The name helium comes from the Greek word for the Sun ( Ἢλιος, Helios ). This is because the first evidence for helium was in distinctive, heretofore unknown spectroscopic lines from the Sun ; these could not be explained by any of the known elements in the 1870s. Minerals Many elements are named after the minerals in which they are found, e.g. calcium after Latin calx ( lime ), silicon is named after Latin silex ( sand ), sodium after soda and potassium after potash. Temporary names Main articles : Systematic element name and IUPAC / IUPAP Joint Working Party In 1979, IUPAC published recommendations for their systematic element names to be used for yet unnamed or undiscovered elements 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, for example `` element 119 '' ( instead of `` ununennium '' ), with the symbol of ( 119 ) or even simply 119. Since 2002, the IUPAC Inorganic Chemistry Division has been the official body responsible with assigning official names to new elements, with the IUPAC Council making the final decision. Chemical symbol Main article : Symbol ( chemistry ) Once an element has been named, a one -, or two - 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 's name, sometimes the symbol and name do not match up as the symbol is based on non-English words, such as `` Pb '' for lead ( plumbum in Latin ) or `` W '' for tungsten ( Wolfram in German ). Naming controversies Main article : List of chemical elements 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 ( IUPAC ) 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 in the list. Thus, IUPAC reconsidered, and in 1996 named element 105 dubnium and element 106 seaborgium. 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 stable allotrope, a name such as dinitrogen may be used to indicate its molecular structure N 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. References Jump up ^ ( 1 ) Jump up ^ Kean, 129 Jump up ^ Gray, 230 - 231 Jump up ^ Kean, 273 Jump up ^ Emsley, 464 Jump up ^ Gray, 220 - 229 Jump up ^ Emsley, 188 Jump up ^ Kean, 55 Jump up ^ Weeks, Mary Elvira ( 1932 ). `` The discovery of the elements. XIII. Some elements predicted by Mendeleeff ''. Journal of Chemical Education. 9 ( 9 ) : 1605 -- 1619. Bibcode : 1932JChEd... 9.1605 W. doi : 10.1021 / ed009p1605. Jump up ^ Emsley, 412 Jump up ^ Emsley, 185 Jump up ^ Emsley, 197 Jump up ^ Gray, 85 Jump up ^ Kean, 119 Jump up ^ Emsley, 157 ^ Jump up to : Kean, 62 Jump up ^ Emsley, 224 Jump up ^ Emsley, 468 Jump up ^ Emsley, 458 Jump up ^ Emsley, 299 Jump up ^ Emsley, 210 Jump up ^ Emsley, 145 Jump up ^ Emsley, 310 Jump up ^ Emsley, 405 Jump up ^ Emsley, 345 Jump up ^ Emsley, 594 Jump up ^ Emsley, 120 Jump up ^ Emsley, 475 Jump up ^ Gray, Theodore. The Elements : A Visual Exploration of Every Known Atom in the Universe. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ 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. Jump up ^ Koppenol, W.H. ( 2002 ). `` Naming of new elements ( IUPAC Recommendations 2002 ) ''. Pure and Applied Chemistry. 74 ( 5 ). doi : 10.1351 / pac200274050787. Jump up ^ 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 Periodic table Periodic table forms Standard 18 - column 18 - column, large cells 32 - column, large cells Alternative Alternatives Chemical Galaxy Janet 's left step table Extended Extension beyond the 7th period Fricke model large cells Pyykkö model Sets of elements By periodic table structure Groups 1 ( Alkali metals ) 2 ( Alkaline earth metals ) 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 ( Pnictogens ) 16 ( Chalcogens ) 17 ( Halogens ) 18 ( Noble gases ) Periods 5 6 7 8 + Aufbau Fricke Pyykkö Blocks s - block p - block d - block f - block g - block Aufbau principle By metallicity Metals Alkali metals Alkaline earth metals Lanthanides Actinides Superactinides Eka - superactinides Transition metals Post-transition metals Metalloids Lists of metalloids by source Dividing line Nonmetals Polyatomic nonmetals Diatomic nonmetals Noble gases Other sets Nutritional elements Platinum - group metals ( PGM ) Rare - earth elements Refractory metals Precious metals Coinage metals Noble metal Heavy metals Native metals Transuranium elements Transactinide elements Major actinides Minor actinides Elements Lists By : Abundance ( in humans ) Atomic properties Nuclear stability Production Symbol Properties Atomic weight Crystal structure Electron affinity Electron configuration Electronegativity Allen Pauling Goldschmidt classification Maximum valence Data pages Abundance Atomic radius Boiling point Critical point Density Elasticity Electrical resistivity Electron affinity Electron configuration Electronegativity Hardness Heat capacity Heat of fusion Heat of vaporization Ionization energy Melting point Oxidation state Speed of sound Thermal conductivity Thermal expansion coefficient Vapor pressure History Element discoveries Mendeleev 's predictions Naming Etymology controversies places scientists in East Asia See also IUPAC nomenclature systematic element name Trivial name Dmitri Mendeleev Book Chemistry Portal Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Naming_of_chemical_elements&oldid=804389366 '' Categories : Naming of chemical elements Naming conventions Hidden categories : Articles containing potentially dated statements from May 2017 All articles containing potentially dated statements All articles with unsourced statements Articles with unsourced statements from December 2016 Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français 中文 Edit links This page was last edited on 8 October 2017, at 17 : 58. 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Question: where do the names of the elements come from
Answer: are sometimes named after people, especially the synthetic elements discovered (created) after ca. 1940