Студопедия.Орг Главная | Случайная страница | Контакты | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!  
 

Chemical element name etymologies



The naming of various substances now known as elements precedes the atomic theory of matter, as names were given locally by various cultures to various minerals, metals, compounds, alloys, mixtures, and other materials, although at the time it was not known which chemicals were elements and which compounds. As they were identified as elements, the existing names for anciently-known elements (e.g., gold, mercury, iron) were kept in most countries.

For purposes of international communication and trade, the official names of the chemical elements both ancient and more recently recognized are decided by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), which has decided on a sort of international English language, drawing on traditional English names even when an element's chemical symbol is based on a Latin or other traditional word, e.g. adopting "gold" rather than "aurum" as the name for the 79th element (Au). IUPAC prefers the British spellings "aluminium" and "caesium" over the U.S. spellings "aluminum" and "cesium", and the U.S. "sulfur" over the UK "sulphur". However, elements that are practical to sell in bulk in many countries often still have locally used national names, and countries whose national language does not use the Latin alphabet are likely to use the IUPAC element names.

According to IUPAC, chemical elements are not proper nouns in English; consequently, the full name of an element is not routinely capitalized in English, even if derived from a proper noun, as in californium and einsteinium. Isotope names of chemical elements are also uncapitalized if written out, e.g., carbon-12 or uranium-235. Chemical element symbols are always capitalized.

Exercise 20: Work with the group - Read the text once again and find out if the information

a) True

b) False

c) The text doesn’t consist any information:

Questions Answers
1.The naming of various substances now known as elements precedes the atomic theory of matter. *
2.According to IUPAC, chemical elements are not proper nouns in English. *
3.The existing names for anciently-known elements were not kept in most countries. *
4.The International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) is situated in Paris. *
5.Isotope names of chemical elements are uncapitalized if written out. *
6.IUPAC always prefers the British spellings over the U.S. spellings. *
7.Chemical element names are always capitalized. *

Exercise 21: Work with the group - Read the text once again and point out the abstract number of the following sentences:

1. The full name of an element is not routinely capitalized in English.

a) 1

b) 2

c) 3

2. At ancient times it was not known which chemicals were elements and which compounds.

e) 3

f) 2

g) 1

3. IUPAC has decided on a sort of international English language.

e) 2

f) 3

g) 1

Exercise 22: Work with a group - Answer the questions:





Дата публикования: 2014-10-25; Прочитано: 571 | Нарушение авторского права страницы | Мы поможем в написании вашей работы!



studopedia.org - Студопедия.Орг - 2014-2025 год. Студопедия не является автором материалов, которые размещены. Но предоставляет возможность бесплатного использования (0.007 с)...