Periodic Table

The naming and symbol of the elements in the periodic table is an interesting story itself. Many of the element symbols are derived from the elemental name such hydrogen (H), oxygen (O), chlorine (Cl), and calcium (Ca). Other element symbols seem to bear no relationship to their name such as sodium (Na), tin (Sn), and lead (Pb). These elemental symbols all derive from the Latin name of the element: natrium, stannum, and plumbum. Many of the elements have been named by their discoverer.

The element phosphorus was named by its discoverer for the property that it glows when exposed to air. Phosphorous in Greek means "I bear light." From the names of the elements such as francium (Fr), americium, europium (Eu), berkelium (Bk), and californium (Cf), it is clear that geographic locations were used to name them. Still other elements have been named to honor people. In this category falls element 101, mendelevium (Md), named to honor the discoverer of the periodic table. Others in this category include einsteinium (Es) and nobelium (No), named after Albert Einstein and Alfred Nobel.

At this time, to name an element a researcher or team of researchers must be certified by IUPAC as the discoverers of that element, at which time they are free to name the compound. The elements 104-109 were subject to a naming controversy. The originally proposed names of these elements by IUPAC were, in order, dubnium, joliotium, rutherfordium, bohrium, hahnium, and meiterium. The names which appear on the current periodic table are, in order, rutherfordium (Rf), dubnium (Db), seaborgium, bohrium (Bh), hassium (Hs), and meitnerium (Mt).

A particular controversy among these elements involved element 106 which researchers at Berkeley were credited with discovering by IUPAC. Following historical convention the Berkeley researchers were free to name the element. They chose to name it seaborgium, after Glenn T. Seaborg who contributed to the element's discovery. IUPAC ignored the recommendations of the discoverers and suggested the name rutherfordium for element 106. A vote of the IUPAC Council in August 1995 resolved the issue, and now element 104 is called rutherfordium and element 106 is called seaborgium.

As a final testament to the great respect with which the periodic table is held, it is instructive to hear Glenn T. Seaborg talk about the significance of having his name assigned to element 106: "A thousand years from now, seaborgium will still be in the periodic table, whereas the twentieth-century Nobel Prize-winners will seem a very small part of history... This honor will last as long as civilization."