Inferring Symbols for The Elements.
The modern International system of alphabetic
symbols was introduced by the Swedish
Chemist Jons Jakob Berzelius in 1814.
 Rule # 1. The symbol is the First Upper Case
letter of the Elements Name.
 Symbol for Iodine = I
 The symbol for Calcium would be C
but C is already used by Carbon.
 The symbol for Calcium is Ca.
 Rule # 2. The Symbol for the Element is the
first and second letter of the Elements
name.
 The symbol for Boron is B –from rule
1.
 Rule 2 suggests that the symbols
would be Ba, Be, Bi, Br.
 The symbol for Berkelium is Bk
 Rule # 3 The symbol is the first letter plus
one other letter from the name.
 Rule # 4 Elements that were discovered in
ancient times are named using Latin names,
so their symbols are based on these.
 Ag = Silver(Argentum)
 Au = Gold (Aurum)
 Cu = Copper (Cuprum)
 Fe = Iron (Ferrum)
 Hg = Mercury (Hydrargyrum)
 Pb = Lead (Plumbum)
 Sn = Tin (Stannum)
 Tungsten has the symbol W because it’s
discovery was in Sweden/Germany where
it’s name is “Wolfram”.
Understanding Formulas for Compounds.
The Shorthand for Water = H2O
What does this mean?
Symbol for
the element
Hydrogen
The small
number here
means there
are 2 atoms
of Hydrogen
Symbol for
the element
Oxygen.
H2
O
No small
number here
means there
1 atom of
Oxygen
Chemical Formulas