Chemical element - Specific chemical elements

A chemical element, often called simply element, is a chemical substance that cannot be divided or changed into other chemical substances by any ordinary chemical technique. The smallest unit of this kind of chemical substances is an atom. An element is a class of substances that contain the same number of protons in all its atoms. Chemical element - Chemistry terminology. Earlier an element or pure element was defined as a substance which "cannot be further broken down ...

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• Chemical element - Chemistry terminology
• Chemical element - Description
• Chemical element - Nomenclature
• Chemical element - Chemical symbols
• Chemical element - Specific chemical elements
• Chemical element - General chemical symbols
• Chemical element - Nonelement symbols

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The naming of elements precedes the atomic theory of matter, although at the time it was not known which chemicals were elements and which compounds. When it was learned, existing names (e.g., gold, mercury, iron) were kept in most countries, and national differences emerged over the names of elements either for convenience, linguistic niceties, or nationalism. For example, the Germans use "Wasserstoff" for "hydrogen" and "Sauerstoff" for "oxygen," while some romance languages use "natrium" for "sodium" and "kalium" for "potassium," and the French prefer the o ...

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Chemical element, Chemical element - Chemistry terminology, Chemical element - Description, Chemical element - Nomenclature, Chemical element - Chemical symbols, Chemical element - Specific chemical elements, Chemical element - General chemical symbols, Chemical element - Nonelement symbols

Read more here: » Chemical element: Encyclopedia II - Chemical element - Nomenclature

The atomic number of an element, Z, is equal to the number of protons which defines the element. For example, all carbon atoms contain 6 protons in their nucleus, so for carbon Z=6. These atoms may have different amounts of neutrons, and are known as isotopes of the element. The atomic mass of an element, A, is measured in unified atomic mass units (u) is the average mass of all the atoms of the element in an environment of interest (usually the earth's crust and atmosphere). Since electrons are light, and neutrons are barely m ...

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Chemical element, Chemical element - Chemistry terminology, Chemical element - Description, Chemical element - Nomenclature, Chemical element - Chemical symbols, Chemical element - Specific chemical elements, Chemical element - General chemical symbols, Chemical element - Nonelement symbols

Read more here: » Chemical element: Encyclopedia II - Chemical element - Description

Chemical element - Specific chemical elements. Before chemistry became a science, alchemists had designed arcane symbols for both metals and common compounds. These were however used as abbreviations in diagrams or procedures; there was no concept of one atoms combining to form molecules. With his advances in the atomic theory of matter, John Dalton devised his own simpler symbols, based on circles, which were to be used to depict molecules. These were superceded by the current typographical system in which chemi ...

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Chemical element, Chemical element - Chemistry terminology, Chemical element - Description, Chemical element - Nomenclature, Chemical element - Chemical symbols, Chemical element - Specific chemical elements, Chemical element - General chemical symbols, Chemical element - Nonelement symbols

Read more here: » Chemical element: Encyclopedia II - Chemical element - Chemical symbols

Earlier an element or pure element was defined as a substance which "cannot be further broken down into another compound with different chemical properties" -- which should be taken to mean it consists of atoms of one element. However, due to allotropy, the isotope effect, and the confusion with the more useful term referring to the general class of atoms (irrespective of what compound it may be in), this usage is in disfavor amongst contemporary chemists, and sees restricted, mostly historical, use. This definition was motivat ...

See also:

Chemical element, Chemical element - Chemistry terminology, Chemical element - Description, Chemical element - Nomenclature, Chemical element - Chemical symbols, Chemical element - Specific chemical elements, Chemical element - General chemical symbols, Chemical element - Nonelement symbols

Read more here: » Chemical element: Encyclopedia II - Chemical element - Chemistry terminology