Chemical symbol

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Chemical symbol

See also chemical formula
Chemical formula

A chemical formula is a way of expressing information about the atoms that constitute a particular chemical compound, and how the relationship between those atoms changes in chemical reactions....
.

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A chemical symbol is an abbreviation

Abbreviation

An abbreviation is a shortened form of a word or phrase. Usually, but not always, it consists of a letter or group of letters taken from the word or phrase....
or shortened version of the name of a chemical element

Chemical element

A chemical element is a type of atom that is distinguished by its atomic number; that is, by the number of protons in its atomic nucleus. The term is also used to refer to a pure chemical Chemical substance composed of atoms with the same number of protons....
, generally assigned in relation to its Latin name. Natural elements

Natural Elements

Natural Elements was the second major label release by Acoustic Alchemy from 1988 in music.The shortest of all of the band's albums, only comprising eight tracks, Natural Elements set out to show what the title suggests: the organic side to Acoustic Alchemy's music....
all have symbol

Symbol

A symbol is something such as an entity, picture, written word, sound, or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention....
s of one or two letters; some man-made elements have temporary symbols of three letters.

Chemical symbols are listed in the periodic table

Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....
and are used as shorthand and in chemical equation

Chemical equation

A chemical equation may be described as a chemical reaction or a means of writing out and describing such a phenomenon. The coefficients next to the symbols and formulae of entities are the absolute values of the stoichiometric coefficient....
s, e.g.,

2H₂ + O₂ ? 2H₂O

Because chemical symbols are often derived from the Latin

Latin

Latin is an Italic language, historically spoken in Latium and Ancient Rome. Through the Military history of the Roman Empire, Latin spread throughout the Mediterranean and a large part of Europe....
or Greek

Greek language

Greek is an Indo-European languages native to the southern Balkan peninsula, the language of the Greek people. It forms an independent branch within Indo-European....
name of the element, they may not bear much similarity to the common English

English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
name, e.g., Na for sodium

Sodium

Sodium is an element which has the symbol Na , atomic number 11, atomic mass 23 amu , and a common oxidation number +1. Sodium is a soft, silvery white, highly reactive element and is a member of the alkali metals within "group 1" ....
(Latin natrium) and Au for gold

Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
(Latin aurum).

In China

China

China is a Culture of China, an ancient civilization, and, depending on perspective, a national or multinational entity extending over a large area in East Asia....
, each chemical element

Chemical element

Chinese character

A Chinese character, also known as a Han character , is a logogram used in writing Chinese language ,'' Japanese language ,'' less frequently Korean language ,'' and formerly Vietnamese language .''...
as its symbol; most of them have been explicitly created for this purpose (see Chinese characters for chemical elements

Chinese characters for chemical elements

The names for chemical elements in East Asian languages, along with those for some chemical compounds , are among the newest words to enter the local vocabularies....
).

Chemical symbols may also be changed to show if one particular isotope

Isotope

Isotopes are any of the different types of atoms of the same chemical element, each having a different atomic mass . Isotopes of an element have atomic nucleus with the same number of protons but different numbers of neutron....
of an atom that is specified, as well as to show other attributes such as ionization

Ionization

Ionization is the physics process of converting an atom or molecule into an ion by adding or removing charged particles such as electrons or other ions....
and oxidation state of a chemical compound.

Attached subscripts or superscripts specifying a nucleotide or molecule have the following meanings and positions:

The nucleon number (mass number
Mass number

The mass number , also called atomic mass number or nucleon number, is the total number of protons and neutrons in an atomic nucleus....
) is shown in the left superscript position (e.g., ¹⁴N)
The number of atoms of a nucleotide
Nucleotide

Nucleotides are molecules that comprise the structural units of RNA and DNA. Additionally, nucleotides play central roles in metabolism. In that capacity, they serve as sources of chemical energy , participate in cell signaling , and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions ....
is shown in the right subscript position (e.g., N₂)
The proton number (atomic number) may be indicated in the left subscript position (e.g., ₆₄Gd)
If necessary, a state of ionization
Ionization

Ionization is the physics process of converting an atom or molecule into an ion by adding or removing charged particles such as electrons or other ions....
or an excited state
Excited state

Excitation is an elevation in energy level above an arbitrary baseline energy state. In physics there is a specific technical definition for energy level which is often associated with an atom being excited to an excited state....
may be indicated in the right superscript position (e.g., state of ionization Na⁺⁾

For complete listings of the chemical elements and their symbols, see:

List of elements by symbol
List of elements by symbol

This is a list of chemical elements by symbol, including the current signification used to identify the chemical elements as recognized by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry, as well as proposed and historical signs....
List of elements by name
List of elements by name

This is a list of chemical elements, sorted by name and color coded according to type of element.Given is each element's element symbol, atomic number, atomic mass or most stable isotope, and group and period numbers on the periodic table....
List of elements by number
Periodic table of the elements
Periodic table

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a table method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869....