Element
Element , noun
[French élément, Latin elementum.]
The elements are naturally classified in several families or groups, as the group of the alkaline elements, the halogen group, and the like. They are roughly divided into two great classes, the metals, as sodium, calcium, etc., which form basic compounds, and the nonmetals or metalloids, as oxygen, sulphur, chlorine, which form acid compounds; but the distinction is only relative, and some, as arsenic, tin, aluminium, etc., form both acid and basic compounds. The essential fact regarding every element is its relative atomic number, which is equal to the number of protons in the nucleus, and also equal to the number of electrons in orbitals around the nucleus when the atom is neutral. When the elements are tabulated in the order of their ascending atomic numbers, the arrangement constitutes the series of the Periodic law of Mendelejeff. See Periodic law, under Periodic. This Periodic law enables us to predict the qualities of unknown elements. The number of elements known in 1890 were about seventy-five, but at that time the gaps in the Periodic law indicated the possibility of many more. All of the elements up to atomic number 100 have now been observed though some are radioactive and very unstable, and in some cases cannot be accumulated in quantity sufficient to actually see by eye. The properties predicted by the periodic law wre close to the observed properties in many cases. Additional unstable elements of atomic number over 100 are observed from time to time, prepared in cyclotrons, particle acclerators, or nuclear reactors, and some of their properties are measurable by careful observation of microscopic quantities, as few as several atoms. For such unstable elements, the properties are now predicted primarily by calculations based on quantum mechanics. Such theories suggest that there may be an "island" of relative stability of elements of atomic number over 120, but this has yet to be confirmed by experiment.
Many of the elements with which we are familiar, as hydrogen, carbon, iron, gold, etc., have been recognized, by means of spectrum analysis, in the sun and the fixed stars. The chemical elements are now known not be simple bodies, but only combinations of subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and electrons; ahd protons and neutrons are now believed to be themselves combinations of quarks, particles which are not observed singly, but only in combinations.
In formulas, the elements are designated by abbreviations of their names in Latin or New Latin, given in the table below. The atomic weights given in the table below are the chemical atomic weights, in some cases being the weighted average of the atomic weights of individual isotopes, each having a different atomic weight. The atomic weight of the individual isotopes are called the physical atomic weights. In those few cases where there is only one stable isotope of an element, the chemical and physical atomic weights are the same. The mass-spectrometric atomic weights are those used for careful mass-spectrometric measurements. For more details about individual elements, see the element names in the vocabulary
Several other elements have been announced, as holmium, vesbium, austrium, etc., but their properties, and in some cases their existence, have not yet been definitely established.
whence it is said, water is the proper element of fishes; air is the element of birds. Hence, the state or sphere natural to anything or suited for its existence.
Collocations (1)
Element (el"e*ment) , transitive verb