WebElements Periodic Table of the Elements | Periodicity | Names and symbols

Names and symbols

The name by which elements are known (ref. 1) is dependent upon language and indeed upon language variants. See below for differences in names used for English and American variants of English. The origins of the names of the elements are given in refs. 2 and 3. Controversy (see below) regarding names of a few heavy elements is now resolved (ref. 4). Names for elements 110-112 have yet to be proposed. Temporary IUPAC systematic names for elements with atomic numbers greater than 100 are given in ref. 5.

Units

None

Notes

The names of elements and their symbols are approved by IUPAC. Its recommendations are published in the journal Pure and Applied Chemistry and sometimes books (ref. 1). There are differences in spelling between a few English and American names (see Table). Those in bold type represent the IUPAC names but, not surprisingly, each country prefers its own spelling, because in each case they are part of the respective English language variant (IUPAC does not seem to recognise all these variants).

English and American spellings
English	American
Aluminium	Aluminum
Caesium	Cesium
Sulphur	Sulfur

There was some controversy recently over the naming of some of the heavier elements (elements with atomic numbers 104-108). In essence, the Amercian Chemical Society and IUPAC failed to agree over appropriate names for these elements. For discussions of this, see refs. 7 and 8. This controversy is now resolved (ref. 4) and WebElements is using the current IUPAC names.

Current names and Older IUPAC and ACS names of the heavier elements
	IUPAC temporary systematic		IUPAC		ACS		Current IUPAC
Element	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol	Name	Symbol
104	Unnilquadium	Unq	Dubnium	Db	Rutherfordium	Rf	Rutherfordium	Rf
105	Unnilpentium	Unp	Joliotium	Jl	Hahnium	Ha	Dubnium	Db
106	Unnilhexium	Unh	Rutherfordium	Rf	Seaborgium	Sg	Seaborgium	Sg
107	Unnilseptium	Uns	Bohrium	Bh	Nielsbohrium	Ns	Bohrium	Bh
108	Unniloctium	Uno	Hahnium	Hn	Hassium	Hs	Hassium	Hs
109	Unnilenium	Une	Meitnerium	Mt	Meitnerium	Mt	Meitnerium	Mt
110	Unnilnilium	Unn	Darmstadtium	Ds	Darmstadtium	Ds	Darmstadtium	Ds
111	Unnilenium	Uuu	Roentgenium	Rg	Roentgenium	Rg	Roentgenium	Rg

WebElements uses the temporary IUPAC names ununbium (Uub) for element 112, ununtrium (Uut) for element 113, ununquadium (Uuq) for element 114, ununpentium (Uup) for element 115, ununhexium (Uuh) for element 116, ununseptium (Uus) for element 117, and ununoctium (Uuo) for element 118. For the origin of these systematic names see ref. 5.

Literature sources

International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry: Commission on the Nomeclature of Inorganic Chemistry, Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry Recommendations 1990, Ed. G.J. Leigh, Blackwell Science, Oxford, 1990.
D.W. Ball, J. Chem. Ed., 1985, 62, 787.
J.G. Stark and H.G. Wallace, J. Chem. Ed., 1970, 47, 152.
Pure Appl. Chem., 1997, 69, 2471.
Pure Appl. Chem., 1979, 51, 381.
Pure Appl. Chem., 1994, 66, 2419.
Chemistry in Britain, 1994, 30, 889.
Chemistry in Britain, 1995, 31, 100.