Rules for assigning Symbols
Rules for assigning Symbols
Modern Day Symbols of Atoms of Different Elements: In chemistry, symbols are the representation of an element. It is simple to use the symbol of an element rather writing a whole word of an element. Therefore, symbols are used to represent an element. Dalton was the scientist who introduced symbols for representing elements for the first time.
As Dalton’s symbol for elements were difficult to draw and inconvenient to use, modern symbols for the elements were introduced by JJ Berzilius. These are defined as “a short hand representation of the name of an element”. In the beginning, the names of elements were derived from the name of the place where they were found for the first time.
Nowadays, it is the IUPAC (International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry) who approves the names and symbols of the elements. Many of the symbols are the first one or two letters of the element’s name in English.
The first letter of a symbol is always written in capital letter and the second letter as a small letter. E.g. chlorine (Cl), zinc (Zn) and aluminium (Al). Symbols of some elements have been taken from their names in different languages such as Latin, German, Greek etc. E.g. Iron — Fe from Ferrum (Latin name) and Gold – Au from Aurum (Latin name).
Rule for assigning Symbols: Elements are symbolized according to the following rules.
1. The abbreviation used to represent an element in generally the first letter in capital of the English name of the element. A few examples are given here.
| English name of the element | Symbol |
| Hydrogen | H |
| Boron | B |
| Oxygen | O |
| Nitrogen | N |
2. When the names of two or more elements begin with the same initial letter, the initial letter followed by one of the next letters is used to symbolize the element.
| Name of the element | Symbol |
| Barium | Ba |
| Bismuth | Bi |
| Bromine | Br |
3. The symbols of some elements are derived from their Latin names.
| Name of the element | Latin name | Symbol |
| Sodium | Natrium | Na |
| Potassium | Kalium | K |
| Copper | Cuprum | Cu |
| Iron | Ferrum | Fe |
Summary of Symbols of common elements:
| Elements | Symbol | Element | Symbol |
| Hydrogen | H | Argon | Ar |
| Helium | He | Potassium | K |
| Lithium | Li | Calcium | Ca |
| Beryllium | Be | Scandium | Sc |
| Boron | B | Titanium | Ti |
| Carbon | C | Chromium | Cr |
| Nitrogen | N | Manganese | Mn |
| Oxygen | O | Iron | Fe |
| Fluorine | F | Copper | Cu |
| Neon | Ne | Zinc | Zn |
| Sodium | Na | Bromine | Br |
| Magnesium | Mg | Krypton | Kr |
| Aluminium | Al | Palladium | Pd |
| Silicon | Si | Silver | Ag |
| Phosphorus | P | Cadmium | Cd |
| Sulphur | S | Mercury | Hg |
| Chlorine | Cl | Barium | Ba |
What does a symbol indicate? The symbol of an element indicates the following.
Thus, the symbol H stands for
(i) the element hydrogen
(ii) one atom of hydrogen, and
(iii) one atomic mass (i.e., 1.008 g) of hydrogen.
What is the symbol of Hydrogen? | |||
| Right Option : A | |||
| View Explanation | |||
Which of the following are correct : (a) H is the symbol of Hydrogen. (b) Na is the symbol of Sodium. (c) Atomic mass of Hydrogen is 1.008. (d) S is the symbol of Scandium. | |||
| Right Option : A | |||
| View Explanation | |||
What is the symbol of Bromine? | |||
| Right Option : D | |||
| View Explanation | |||
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