From Glyph to Element Symbol – A Story of Names

Chemical Education

Authors

  • Edwin C. Constable

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.2533/chimia.2019.837

PMID:

31645248

Keywords:

Elements, Periodic table, Symbols

Abstract

When I write the symbol Fe, all scientists know that I am talking about iron. Today's chemists use element symbols in formulae without thinking where they came from. This article looks at the history of element symbols and why we use the ones we do.

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Published

2019-10-30