Chapter Two Matter

Th e Hi s t o r y o f Ch e m i c a l Sy m b o l s Facets of Chemistry

cinder iron filings egg shells burned pebbles

In the early 1800s, a student named of harvest, and his scythe. word than to draw a figure which has Berzelius sat down to study his chem- little analogy with words. The chemi- CD02-15-A Iron—The jc metal used istry text. Chemistry was his favorite in weapons received a symbol cal signs ought to be letters for the subject, but reading the text was one that showed the lance and shield greater facility of writing and not dis- task he always dreaded. He quickly of Mars, the god of war. figure a printed book. I shall there- became mired in a bog of strange fore take for the chemical sign the Tin—The thunderbolt symbols that made no sense at all. initial letter of the Latin name of each of Jupiter served as tin’s symbol. Berzelius recognized one symbol chemical element. If the first two let- but then found that another symbol Mercury—This flowing ters be common to two metals, I shall meant the same thing. One book in liquid metal became associated use both the initial letter and the first the university’s library used twenty with Mercury, the messenger of letter they have not in common.” different symbols for mercury. An- the gods. Mercury’s wand was Soon Berzelius’s abbreviations other book used fourteen differ- used as the symbol. became accepted and understood all ent symbols for lead. “This mess of Alchemists produced many new sym- over the world. Today the conglom- symbols must be cleaned up and bols as well. Drawing their symbols eration of confusing symbols has replaced with something better,” he often required artistic skill and time. yielded to a unified, reasonable, and muttered. understandable system of chemical Early alchemists developed the symbols. first symbols for elements. The met- Because science is a human en- als they worked with were associ- deavor, there are still sometimes dis- ated with gods and planets that were agreements about who gets to name known in ancient times. Ancient sym- a new element, or what it should be bols for the metals tell of Egyptian, called. For that reason, the Interna- Persian, Greek, and Roman associa- tional Union of Pure and Applied tions. Chemistry (IUPAC) now regulates the CD02-11-AGold—The jc “perfect” practice. Typically, the individual or metal received the symbol of lab that first discovers an element perfection and divinity. Later, chemistry student John is given the privilege of choosing a name. Since none of the recently dis- Silver—The metal with Dalton became frustrated and de- covered elements occur naturally and the luster of moonlight received signed a system of symbols to illus- many exist for only fractions of a sec- the shape of the moon for its trate the different kinds of atoms. He ond in labs, there is sometimes con- symbol. drew various symbols inside circles to designate the different elements. troversy over which person is the first Copper—The goddess Dalton represented compounds by to create an element. This controver- Venus supposedly rose out of combining the symbols of the ele- sy is another reminder that science is the sea off the coast of Cyprus, ments that were in the compounds. not absolute but is just man’s best at- which was known for its copper After Dalton introduced his sys- tempt to find order in his world. mines. The symbol for copper tem, a Swedish chemist named Jöns pictures the looking glass of the Jacob Berzelius developed a system goddess of beauty. of abbreviations. He included sev- Lead—This metal was eral revolutionary ideas in his system: associated with Saturn, the god “It is easier to write an abbreviated