Systematic Element Name

In chemistry, heavy transuranic elements receive a permanent name and symbol only after their discovery has been confirmed. This has been a protracted and highly political process in some cases (see element naming controversy). In order to discuss newly discovered and as-yet undiscovered elements without ambiguity, the IUPAC assigns a provisional name and symbol to such elements.

The IUPAC rules

  digit  !!  root  !!symbol
||nil||n
||un||u
||bi||b
||tri||t
||quad||q
||pent||p
||hex||h
||sept||s
||oct||o
||enn||e
The provisional names are derived systematically from the element's atomic number. Each digit is translated to a 'numerical root', according to the table. The roots are concatenated, and the name is completed with the ending -ium. Some of the roots are Latin and others are Greek; the reason is to avoid duplicated letters. Some extra rules are designed to prevent funny-looking names.
  • If bi or tri is followed by the ending ium, one of the two i's is omitted.
  • If enn is followed by nil, one of the three n's is omitted.
The provisional symbol is formed by taking the first letter of each root, converting the first to a capital. All elements up to and including atomic number 111 have received permanent names and symbols, so the use of provisional names and symbols is recommended only for elements 112 and above. Therefore, in practice, provisional names are just those with 3-letter symbols.

Examples

Element 123:
Element 208:
Element 970:>
nbsp; un + un + pent + ium =
  un + bi + tri + ium =
  bi + nil + oct + ium =
  enn + sept + nil + ium = 
  ununpentium (Uup)
  unbitrium (Ubt)
  biniloctium (Bno)
  ennseptnilium (Esn)
Note: These examples show conjectured elements. As of 2004, ununquadium, element 114, is the highest confirmed element known, with elements 115 (ununpentium) and 116 (ununhexium) awaiting confirmation.

Trivia

There is one element whose systematic name is very similar to its permanent name (the symbols are identical). That element is element 8: "octium" (O), more commonly known as oxygen (O).

External links

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
half past dead
morris chestnut
baruch goldstein
nantes
actinidiaceae
second viennese school
coal bed methane extraction
warcraft
geography of france
economy of france
demographics of france
politics of france
viaticum
richard strauss
well drilling
unbinilium
ununennium
hugo von hofmannsthal
list of music festivals
festival
werwolf
zuiderzee works
paris opera
hasely crawford
archie hahn
mammoth cave national park
ununpentium
fourth international
lionel jospin
red river gorge
indre et loire
maine et loire
cumberland falls
military of armenia
geography of australia
music of australia
economy of australia
paralympic games
australian defence force
foreign relations of australia
geography of austria
economy of austria
foreign relations of austria
military of austria