Tabla de Contenidos
Chemical elements are defined as pure substances that cannot be broken down into other simpler substances by either physical or chemical means. This means that they are the building blocks of all matter, forming the ingredients of all chemical compounds in the universe.
How many chemical elements are there?
There are currently a total of 118 elements known to mankind. Most of them can be found naturally in nature, while some of them are synthetic elements that have only existed for tiny fractions of a second in the world’s largest particle accelerators.
Elements can be represented by their name, their chemical symbol , or their atomic number. Most of the names were assigned many years ago based on common substances, gods or other sources of inspiration, while the most recent ones were named after their discoverers (as in the case of the curium, in honor of Marie and Pierre Curie ), to the place of its discovery (as in the case of californium) or following a nomenclature system (ununpentio for element 115, for example).
The chemical symbols correspond, in most cases, to the first letters of the name. Sometimes it is the English name (such as C for carbon or Co for cobalt), sometimes it is the Latin name (Fe for iron which was called ferrum in Latin, or Na for sodium which was called natrium in Latin ) .
20 Examples of Chemical Elements
The following table presents a list of 20 examples of the most notable chemical elements of the periodic table, ordered according to their atomic number. In each case, the name, the chemical symbol, its atomic number, and its atomic mass are indicated. In the following sections, a short review of each of these elements is given, indicating the most common way in which it is obtained on earth and an interesting fact that makes each of these 20 elements some of the most important in the table. periodic.
| NAME | SYMBOL | ATOMIC NUMBER | ATOMIC WEIGHT |
| Hydrogen | h | 1 | 1,008 |
| Helium | I have | 2 | 4,002 |
| Carbon | C. | 6 | 12.01 |
| Nitrogen | No. | 7 | 14.01 |
| Oxygen | EITHER | 8 | 16.00 |
| Fluorine | F | 9 | 19.00 |
| Sodium | na | eleven | 22.99 |
| Aluminum | To the | 13 | 26.98 |
| Silicon | Yeah | 14 | 28.09 |
| Match | P | fifteen | 30.97 |
| Sulfur | S | 16 | 32.07 |
| Chlorine | Cl | 17 | 35.45 |
| Argon | ar | 18 | 39.95 |
| Titanium | You | 22 | 47.88 |
| Iron | Faith | 26 | 55.85 |
| Copper | cu | 29 | 63.55 |
| Silver | Aug | 47 | 107.9 |
| Gold | oh | 79 | 197.0 |
| Lead | bp | 82 | 207.2 |
| Francium | Fr | 87 | (223) |
An interesting fact about each of these elements is included in the following sections, arranged according to element type, starting with the noble gases.
Examples of noble gases
Example 1: Helium (He)
Helium (He) is a noble gas found in nature in the form of a monatomic gas. It is the second most abundant element in the universe, and it is also the second element with the smallest radius on the periodic table.
Example 2: Argon (Ar)
Like helium, Argon (Ar) is a noble gas found in nature in the form of a monatomic gas. It is the most abundant noble gas in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Examples of metallic elements
Example 3: Aluminum (Al)
Aluminum (Al) is a metal found in nature, mainly in the form of sulfates. It is the most abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust and is also the most extracted and produced on earth.
Example 4: Lead (Pb)
Lead (Pb) is a naturally occurring metal combined with sulfur in the mineral galena (PbS). It is one of the most recycled metals in the world.
Example 5: Sodium (Na)
Sodium (Na) is an alkali metal found in nature as common salt or sodium chloride. It is the most abundant alkali metal of all.
Example 6: Francium (Fr)
Francium (Fr) is also an alkali metal. In fact, it is the heaviest alkali metal, and it is practically non-existent on earth. It is a radioactive element that lasts very little and is only found in radioactive samples of uranium and thorium. It is the least electronegative and therefore most electropositive element in the periodic table. It is also the largest element on the periodic table.
Example 7: Titanium (Ti)
Titanium (Ti) is a transition metal found in nature in the form of the minerals ilmenite and rutile. It is the metallic element with the highest resistance/weight ratio (it is very strong and light) which is why it is used to manufacture space planes and rockets.
Example 8: Iron (Fe)
Iron (Fe) is a transition metal found in nature in the form of iron minerals, such as ferrite. Despite not being the most abundant element in the earth’s crust, it is the most abundant element on the planet, constituting 80% of the mass of the inner and outer core, the layer that contains most of the mass of the earth.
Example 9: Copper (Cu)
Copper (Cu) is a transition metal found in nature as the mineral chalcopyrite. In all probability it was the first metal discovered by humanity; it is now the second most produced in the world and is the second best conductor of electricity and heat among metals.
Example 10: Silver (Ag)
Silver (Ag) is also a transition metal, occurring in nature in the form of elemental metallic silver. In addition to being a precious metal, it is the element with the highest electrical and thermal conductivity that exists.
Example 11: Gold (Au)
Gold (Au) is a transition metal found in nature in the form of an elemental metallic gold. It is a precious metal and it is also the most ductile and malleable metal of all.
Examples of metalloids
Example 12: Silicon (Si)
Silicon (Si) is a metalloid found in nature in the form of silicon oxide. It is the second most abundant element in the Earth’s crust and is by far the most abundant metalloid on the periodic table.
Examples of nonmetals
Example 13: Hydrogen (H)
Hydrogen (H) is a non-metal found in nature in the form of a molecular hydrogen gas, H 2 . It is the most abundant element in the entire universe.
Example 14: Carbon (C)
Carbon (C) is a non-metal found in nature in the form mainly of graphite and diamond. It is the element that forms the basis of life and also, coal, one of the minerals that contains it, is the most obtained mineral in mining worldwide.
Example 15: Nitrogen (N)
Nitrogen (N) is another nonmetal found in nature in the form of molecular gaseous nitrogen, N 2 . It is the most abundant element in the Earth’s atmosphere.
Example 16: Oxygen (O)
Oxygen (O) is a non-metal found in the atmosphere in the form of molecular gaseous oxygen, O 2 and in a host of other compounds such as oxides, salts and others. It is the most abundant element in the earth’s crust and the second most abundant in the atmosphere.
Example 17: Fluorine (F)
Fluorine (F) is a non-metal found in nature in different salts in the form of fluoride. It is the most electronegative element in the periodic table and also the most abundant halogen in the earth’s crust.
Example 18: Phosphorus (P)
Phosphorus (P) is a non-metal that can be found in nature in the form of a black phosphor. It is one of the most important elements for bones and is the second most abundant mineral in the human body.
Example 19: Sulfur (S)
Sulfur (S) is a non-metal found in nature in the form of elemental sulfur, and also forming part of salts in the form of sulfides and sulfates. It is the third most abundant mineral in the body and is an essential element for protein synthesis.
Example 20: Chlorine (Cl)
Chlorine (Cl) is a non-metal found in nature as part of many salts, in the form of chlorides, chlorates and other anions. It is the most abundant halogen in the sea.
References
Brown, T. (2021). Chemistry: The Central Science (11th ed.). London, England: Pearson Education.
Chang, R., Manzo, Á. R., Lopez, PS, & Herranz, ZR (2020). Chemistry (10th ed.). New York City, NY: MCGRAW-HILL.
Royal Society of Chemistry (2021). Periodic table, Retrieved from https://www.rsc.org/periodic-table/
