Chemistry, like any science, requires precision. The data representation system in this field of knowledge has been developed for centuries, and the current standard is an optimized structure that contains all the necessary information for further theoretical work with each specific element.
When writing formulas and equations, it is extremely inconvenient to use the whole names of substances, and today one or two letters are used for this purpose - the chemical symbols of the elements.
History
In the ancient world, as well as in the Middle Ages, scientists used symbolic images to denote various elements, but these signs were not standardized. It was not until the 13th century that attempts were made to systematize the symbols of substances and elements, and from the 15th century, newly discovered metals began to be designated by the first letters of their names. A similar naming strategy is used in chemistry to this day.
Current state of the naming system
Today, more than one hundred and twenty chemical elements are known, some of which are extremely problematic to find in nature. It is not surprising that even inIn the middle of the 19th century, science knew about the existence of only 63 of them, and there was neither a single naming system nor an integral system for presenting chemical data.
The last problem was solved in the second half of the same century by the Russian scientist D. I. Mendeleev, relying on the unsuccessful attempts of his predecessors. The naming process continues today - there are several elements with numbers from 119 and above, conditionally indicated in the table by the Latin abbreviation of their serial number. The pronunciation of the symbols of chemical elements of this category is carried out according to the Latin rules for reading numerals: 119 - ununenny (lit. "one hundred and nineteenth"), 120 - unbinilium ("one hundred and twentieth") and so on.
Most of the elements have their own names, derived from Latin, Greek, Arabic, German roots, in some cases reflecting the objective characteristics of substances, and in others acting as unmotivated symbols.
Etymology of some elements
As mentioned above, some names and symbols of chemical elements are based on objectively observable signs.
The name of phosphorus, glowing in the dark, comes from the Greek phrase "bring light". When translated into Russian, quite a lot of "speaking" names are found: chlorine - "greenish", bromine - "bad smelling", rubidium - "dark red", indium - "indigo color". Since the chemical symbols of the elements are given in Latin letters, the direct connection of the name with the substance for the carrierRussian language usually goes unnoticed.
There are also more subtle naming associations. So, the name of selenium comes from the Greek word meaning "Moon". This happened because in nature this element is a satellite of tellurium, whose name in the same Greek means "Earth".
Niobium is similarly named. According to Greek mythology, Niobe is the daughter of Tantalus. The chemical element tantalum was discovered earlier and is similar in its properties to niobium - thus, the logical connection "father-daughter" was projected onto the "relationship" of chemical elements.
Moreover, tantalum got its name in honor of a famous mythological character not by chance. The fact is that obtaining this element in its pure form was fraught with great difficulties, due to which scientists turned to the phraseological unit “Tantalum flour”.
Another curious historical fact is that the name of platinum literally translates as "silver", i.e. something similar, but not as valuable as silver. The reason is that this metal melts much harder than silver, and therefore for a long time it was not used and was not of particular value.
General principle for naming elements
When looking at the periodic table, the first thing that catches your eye is the names and symbols of chemical elements. It is always one or two Latin letters, the first of which is capital. The choice of letters is due to the Latin name of the element. Despite the fact thatthe roots of words come from ancient Greek, and from Latin, and from other languages, according to the naming standard, Latin endings are added to them.
Interestingly, most of the symbols will be intuitively understandable to a native speaker of Russian: aluminum, zinc, calcium or magnesium is easily remembered by a student the first time. The situation is more complicated with those names that differ in the Russian and Latin versions. The student may not immediately remember that silicon is silicium, and mercury is hydrargyrum. Nevertheless, you will have to remember this - the graphic representation of each element is focused on the Latin name of the substance, which will appear in chemical formulas and reactions as Si and Hg, respectively.
To remember such names, it is useful for students to do exercises like: “Match the symbol of a chemical element and its name.”
Other ways of naming
The names of some elements originated from the Arabic language and were "stylized" as Latin. For example, sodium takes its name from a root stem meaning "bubbling substance". Arabic roots can also be traced to the names of potassium and zirconium.
The German language also had its influence. From it come the names of such elements as manganese, cob alt, nickel, zinc, tungsten. The logical connection is not always obvious: for example, nickel is an abbreviation for the word meaning "copper devil".
In rare cases, titles weretranslated into Russian in the form of tracing paper: hydrogenium (literally "giving birth to water") turned into hydrogen, and carboneum into carbon.
Names and toponyms
More than a dozen elements are named after various scientists, including Albert Einstein, Dmitri Mendeleev, Enrico Fermi, Alfred Nobel, Ernest Rutherford, Niels Bohr, Marie Curie and others.
Some names come from other proper names: names of cities, states, countries. For example: moscovium, dubnium, europium, tennessine. Not all toponyms will seem familiar to a native speaker of the Russian language: it is unlikely that a person without cultural training will recognize the self-name of Japan in the word nihonium - Nihon (literally: the Land of the Rising Sun), and in hafnia - the Latin version of Copenhagen. Finding out even the name of your native country in the word ruthenium is not an easy task. Nevertheless, Russia is called Ruthenia in Latin, and the 44th chemical element is named after it.
The names of cosmic bodies also appear in the periodic table: the planets Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Ceres, the asteroid Pallas. In addition to the names of the characters of ancient Greek mythology (Tantalum, Niobium), there are also Scandinavian ones: thorium, vanadium.
Periodic table
In the periodic table familiar to us today, bearing the name of Dmitry Ivanovich Mendeleev, the elements are presented in rows and periods. In each cell, a chemical element is indicated by a chemical symbol, next to which other data are presented: its full name, serial number, distribution of electrons overlayers, relative atomic mass. Each cell has its own color, which depends on whether the selected s-, p-, d- or f- element.
Principles of writing
When writing isotopes and isobars, the mass number is put on the top left of the element symbol - the total number of protons and neutrons in the nucleus. In this case, the atomic number is placed at the bottom left, which is the number of protons.
The charge of an ion is written on the top right, and the number of atoms is indicated on the same side below. Symbols for chemical elements always begin with a capital letter.
National spellings
The Asia-Pacific region has its own spellings of the symbols of chemical elements, based on local writing methods. The Chinese notation system uses radical signs followed by characters in their phonetic meaning. Symbols of metals are preceded by the sign "metal" or "gold", gases - by the radical "steam", non-metals - by the hieroglyph "stone".
In European countries, there are also situations when the signs of elements during recording differ from those recorded in international tables. For example, in France, nitrogen, tungsten and beryllium have their own names in the national language and are denoted by the corresponding symbols.
In closing
Studying at school or even a higher educational institution, memorizing the contents of the entire periodic table is not required at all. In memory, one should keep the chemical symbols of the elements that are most oftenare found in formulas and equations, and little used from time to time look on the Internet or a textbook.
However, in order to avoid errors and confusion, you need to know how the data is structured in the table, in which source to find the required data, and clearly remember which element names differ in Russian and Latin versions. Otherwise, you might accidentally mistake Mg for manganese and N for sodium.
To get practice in the beginning, do the exercises. For example, specify the symbols for chemical elements for a randomly selected sequence of names from the periodic table. As you gain experience, everything will fall into place and the question of remembering this basic information will disappear by itself.
