CHEMICAL FOMRULAS P2 DECEMBER 2023

W IS THE SYMBOL OF

TUNGSTEN?
Chemistry 9a

Presented by Patricio Sepúlveda & Alejandro Andueza

Introduction
You may have wondered why some chemical
symbols don't have the initial of the element they
are representing. For example, why is the
symbol for sodium Na instead of So? There are a
total of eleven elements represented by symbols
that do not match the spelling of the element.
There are several reasons for this to happen.
It was Jöns Berzelius who devised our system of
chemical notation. He used the first letters of the
element's Latin name as the symbol for the element.

We have used some of these words for so long, they

have almost become part of the English language. For
example, the symbol C doesn't stand for "carbon," it
stands for the Latin word carbo, meaning
"charcoal." Also, many of the nonmetals end in -gen,
which is a Latin suffix meaning "thing that produces."
The suffix-ium found at the end of most metal names
is also Latin.

Some elements have Latin and Greek names because

they were discovered by the ancient Romans and
Greeks.
 Why did Berzelius
used Latin?
One reason is that in the nineteenth century, when
many of the elements were discovered, English
was not the near-universal language it is today. It
was also true that a person wasn't considered well
educated if they didn't know Latin .

Many scientists spoke only their native language,

but could also read some Latin and Greek. So they
communicated between each other using this
languages.
 Examples

1 3
Sodium, Na: This comes from the Latin natrium, Tin, Sn: This symbol is from the Latin name for tin,
which is derived from the Greek nitron, meaning stannum.
"natural soda, a kind of salt."

2 Potassium, K: K stands for kalium, which is the

Latin for potash (thus, potassium).
4 Gold, Au: The symbol is from the Latin word
aurum, meaning “shining dawn”
CHEMISTRY FORMULAS P2

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