• Hydrogen was discovered by Henry Cavendish at 1766 in London, England. Origin of name: from the Greek words "hydro" and "genes" meaning "water" and "generator“
• Hydrogen is the lightest element
• It is by far the most abundant element in the universe and makes up about about 90% of the universe by weight

• Helium was discovered by Sir William Ramsay and independently by N. A. Langley and P. T.
Cleve at 1895 in London, England and
Uppsala, Sweden. Origin of name: from the
Greek word "helios" meaning "sun“
• Helium is one of the so-called noble gases
• Helium gas is an unreactive, colorless, and odorless monoatomic gas

• Lithium was discovered by Johan August
Arfvedson at 1817 in Stockholm, Sweden. Origin of name: from the Greek word "lithos" meaning
"stone", apparently because it was discovered from a mineral source whereas the other two common Group 1 elements, sodium and potassium, were discovered from plant sources
• Lithium is a Group 1 (IA) element containing just a single valence electron
• Lithium is a solid only about half as dense as water and lithium metal is the least dense metal.

• Beryllium was discovered by Nicholas Louis
Vauquelin (1763-1829) at 1797 in France.
Origin of name: from the Greek word
"beryllos" meaning "beryl
• Beryllium is a Group 2 (IIA) element
• It is a metal and has a high melting point

• Boron was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy, Joseph-
Louis Gay-Lussac, L.J. Th&
� nard at 1808 in England,
France. Origin of name: from the Arabic word "buraq" and the Persian word "burah“
• Boron is a Group 13 element that has properties which are borderline between metals and non-metals
(semimetallic)
• It is a semiconductor rather than a metallic conductor

• Carbon was discovered by Known since ancient times although not recognized as an element until much later. at no data in not known. Origin of name: from the Latin word "carbo" meaning "charcoal“
• Carbon is a Group 14 element and is distributed very widely in nature
• It is found in abundance in the sun, stars, comets, and atmospheres of most planets.

• Nitrogen was discovered by Daniel Rutherford at 1772 in Scotland. Origin of name: from the Greek words
"nitron genes" meaning "nitre" and "forming" and the
Latin word "nitrum" (nitre is a common name for potassium nitrate, KNO#).
• Nitrogen is a Group 15 element.
• Nitrogen makes up about 78% of the atmosphere by volume but the atmosphere of Mars contains less than
3% nitrogen

• Oxygen was discovered by Joseph Priestley, Carl
Scheele at 1774 in England, Sweden. Origin of name: from the Greek words "oxy genes" meaning "acid"
(sharp) and "forming" (acid former).
• Oxygen is a Group 16 element.
• While about one fifth of the atmosphere is oxygen gas, the atmosphere of Mars contains only about 0.15% oxygen

• Fluorine was discovered by Henri Moissan at 1886 in France. Origin of name: from the Latin word
"fluere" meaning "to flow".In 1670 a recipe containing Bohemian
• Fluorine is a Group 17 element.
• Fluorine is the most electronegative and reactive of all elements.

• Neon was discovered by Sir William Ramsay, Morris
W. Travers at 1898 in London, England. Origin of name: from the Greek word "neon" meaning "new
• Neon is a very inert element
• Neon forms an unstable hydrate

• Sodium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy at
1807 in England. Origin of name: from the English word "soda" (the origin of the symbol Na comes from the Latin word "natrium")
• Sodium is a Group 1 element (or IA in older labelling styles).
• Group 1 elements are often referred to as the
"alkali metals".

• Magnesium was discovered by Sir Humphrey
Davy at 1755 in England. Origin of name: from the Greek word "Magnesia", a district of
Thessaly
• Magnesium is a grayish-white, fairly tough metal.
• Magnesium is the eighth most abundant element in the earth's crust although not found in it's elemental form

• Aluminum was discovered by Hans Christian
Oersted at 1825 in Denmark. Origin of name: from the Latin word "alumen" meaning
"alum“
• Pure aluminum is a silvery-white metal with many desirable characteristics
• It is light, nontoxic (as the metal), nonmagnetic and nonsparking. It is somewhat decorative

• Silicon was discovered by Jöns Jacob Berzelius at 1824 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the
Latin word "silicis" meaning "flint".
• Silicon is present in the sun and stars and is a principal component of a class of meteorites known as aerolites
• Silicon makes up 25.7% of the earth's crust by weight, and is the second most abundant element, exceeded only by oxygen

• Phosphorus was discovered by Hennig Brand at
1669 in Germany. Origin of name: from the Greek word "phosphoros" meaning "bringer of light" (an ancient name for the planet Venus?
• Phosphorus is commonly misspelled
"phosphorous".
• It is an essential component of living systems and is found in nervous tissue, bones and cell protoplasm.

• Sulfur was discovered by Known since ancient times at no data in not known. Origin of name: from the
Sanskrit word "sulvere" meaning "sulphur"; also from the Latin word "sulphurium" meaning "sulphur".
• Sulphur (sulfur) is a pale yellow, odourless, brittle solid, which is insoluble in water but soluble in carbon disulphide
• Sulphur is essential to life. It is a minor constituent of fats, body fluids, and skeletal minerals.

• Chlorine was discovered by Carl William Scheele at
1774 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the Greek word "chloros" meaning "pale green".
• Chlorine is a greenish yellow gas which combines directly with nearly all elements.
• Chlorine is a respiratory irritant.

• Argon was discovered by Sir William Ramsay, Lord
Rayleigh at 1894 in Scotland. Origin of name: from the Greek word "argos" meaning "inactive".
• Argon is a colourless and odourless gas present to a very small extent in the atmosphere.
• Argon is very inert (indeed it is referred to as one of the noble gases) and is not known to form true chemical compounds.

• Potassium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy at 1807 in England. Origin of name: from the
English word "potash" (pot ashes) and the Arabic word "qali" meaning alkali (the origin of the symbol K comes from the Latin word "kalium").
• Potassium is a metal and is the seventh most abundant and makes up about 1.5 % by weight of the earth's crust.
• Potassium is an essential constituent for plant growth and it is found in most soils

• Calcium was discovered by Sir Humphrey Davy at
1808 in England. Origin of name: from the Latin word "calx" meaning "lime".
• Calcium as the element is a grey silvery metal. The metal is rather hard.
• Calcium is an essential constituent of leaves, bones, teeth, and shells.

• Scandium was discovered by Lars Fredrik Nilson at 1879 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the
Latin word "Scandia" meaning "Scandinavia
• Scandium is a silvery-white metal which develops a slightly yellowish or pinkish cast upon exposure to air.
• It is relatively soft, and resembles yttrium and the rare-earth metals more than it resembles aluminium or titanium.

• Titanium was discovered by William Gregor at 1791 in England. Origin of name: named after the
"Titans", (the sons of the Earth goddess in Greek mythology).
• Titanium s a lustrous, white metal when pure.
Titanium minerals are quite common.
• The metal has a low density, good strength, is easily fabricated, and has excellent corrosion resistance.

• Vanadium was discovered by Andres Manuel del
Rio and Nils Sefström at 1801 in Mexico and
Sweden. Origin of name: named after "Vanadis", the goddess of beauty in Scandinavian mythology
• Pure vanadium is a greyish silvery metal, and is soft and ductile.
• It has good corrosion resistance to alkalis, sulphuric acid, hydrochloric acid, and salt waters

• Chromium was discovered by Louis-Nicholas
Vauquelin at 1797 in France. Origin of name: from the Greek word "chroma" meaning
"colour", named for the many coloured compounds known for chromium
• Chromium is steel-gray, lustrous, hard, metallic, and takes a high polish.
• Its compounds are toxic

• Manganese was discovered by Johann Gahn at
1774 in Sweden. Origin of name: from the Latin word "magnes" meaning "magnet", or "magnesia
nigri" meaning "black magnesia" (MnO
2
• Manganese metal is gray-white, resembling iron, but is harder and very brittle.
• The metal is reactive chemically, and decomposes cold water slowly. Manganese is widely distributed throughout the animal kingdom.