Talk:List of elements by symbol

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Contents 1 Symbol Explanations 2 Tentative Symbols 3 Wikipedia school 4 Proposed, Former and Suggested 5 Other symbols that look like element symbols 6 Iupiter vs. Jupiter

[edit] Symbol Explanations

Would it make sense to, for the elements where the symbol isn't obvious, to put the origin of the symbol on this page?

Done. -Thibbs (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Tentative Symbols

Would it make sense to add the symbols of element names such as Io for Ionium, Cb for Columbium and Eb for Ekaboron that were once used or proposed, but are no longer officially used?

It seems that this has now been added to the page and while I do believe that this section is historically interesting, there are a huge number of these tentative symbols. The table we currently have is much smaller than it has potential to be given the number of once-used names. I would suggest that this section be greatly expanded and then made into a collapsible table which we could do for all tables which do not display currently used names.

As a second point, I also think that we should avoid the use of names which were never used in literature although they fit a naming scheme. For example, although one could imagine the term EkaHolmium (using Mendeleyev's scheme) or Ennennium (using the IUPAC scheme) as systematically generated tentative names for Einsteinium, we should refrain from including it in the table since (to my knowledge at least) neither name was ever used. -Thibbs (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Wikipedia school

I need to be able to get to information of how many electrons, neutrons, and protons. also find out some information on the atomic mass and the atomic numbers in all of the periodic table. This comment was written in the main article by 216.125.165.194 at 18:11, 8 April 2006 (UTC).

For atomic numbers, atomic masses etc. see for example periodic table (detailed) or list of elements by atomic number. The number of protons equals the atomic number Z (e.g. 6 for C). The number of electrons also equals Z in neutral atoms. Regarding neutrons see for example isotope table (divided). The number of neutrons equals the mass number A (e.g. 13 for the isotope ¹³C) minus Z. --Eddi (Talk) 21:40, 8 April 2006 (UTC)

Please see WP:TALK -Thibbs (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Proposed, Former and Suggested

I would like to clarify here about the above three terms, because originally, there are so many symbols are "proposed". I think there should not be too much "proposal" of symbols, and I found that's true. To tell you ostensibly how I categorize the symbols that are not currently used, I clarify what "Proposed", "Former" and "Suggested" describe.
"Proposed" describes name/symbol that is nominated during acceptance of corresponding "permanent" name/symbol by internation standards organization (current is International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry).
"Former" describes name/symbol that is existed before acceptance of corresponding "permanent" name/symbol by internation standards organization.
"Suggested" describes name/symbol that is adverted after acceptance of corresponding "permanent" name/symbol by internation standards organization.
Obviously, "Proposed", "Former" and "Suggested" name/symbol are not a part of standard, but distinguishing what the non-standard name/symbol belongs is important for us know the reality. 195.239.158.54 17:36, 18 July 2006 (UTC)

I am not sure I properly understand the difference between your use of the terms "Proposed" and "Suggested." According to my understanding there would be no "Symbols not currently used" which would fall under "suggested." In the meanwhile, I had independently come to the same conclusion as you that the differences between "symbols not currently used" should be clarified and I BOLDly made the change without referencing talk first. The scheme I had come up with split these names into 4 subcategories.

• Category 1 - Name changed due to a standardization of, modernization of, or update to older previously used symbol.
• Category 2 - Name designated by discredited/disputed claimant.
• Category 3 - Name proposed prior to discovery/creation of element or prior to official re-naming of a placeholder name.
• Category 4 - Temporary placeholder name.

As I see it, my Category 1 is the same as your "Former" category, my Category 3 is the same as your "Proposed" category. I notice that my Category 3 contains the word "proposed" in it and as such I think we are generally in agreement on this. My Category 1, however, does not contain the word "former" and I propose that as my scheme is but a modification of yours and as there is no remarkable difference between our use of these two categories, my category 1 should be modified to include the word "former." -Thibbs (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Other symbols that look like element symbols

I have just added the symbols Ar (aryl) and Bu (butyl) to this section. Obviously the section is not intended to be a comprehensive list of short chemistry abbreviations but I believe these two are common ones that are just as notable as some of those already listed, particularly Ar, the chemical element symbol for argon. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by I-hunter (talk • contribs) 13:45, 29 January 2007 (UTC).

Oops, sorry! I-hunter 13:47, 29 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Iupiter vs. Jupiter

There have been several edits in the past which have changed the word "Iupiter" to "Jupiter" under Pictographic symbols. According to the Lapp source the correct spelling is, in fact, "Iupiter" and not "Jupiter." I suspect that these edits are mainly attempts at typo-correction, but unfortunately in this case these well-intentioned edits are unsupported by verifiable sources. -Thibbs (talk) 15:54, 4 May 2008 (UTC)