The diagram below shows the classification of matter according to composition. Click on each term to see a brief explanation. When you are asked to classify matter, you probably automatically think of the phases or states of matter: solid, liquid, gas, and plasma. However, scientists also classify matter according to the substances that make up the matter, or its composition. When classifying matter according to composition, all matter can be classified as either a pure substance or a mixture.
The diagram below shows the classification of matter according to composition. Click on each term to see a brief explanation.
An element is a pure substance made entirely of one type of atom. Elements cannot be separated into simpler substances by physical or chemical means. Each element has a unique set of properties that can be used to identify that element.
An element is the simplest substance. A list of the elements can be found on the periodic table of elements. Elements contain only one kind of atom. Gold is an element. If you had a bar of gold and you kept breaking it down into smaller and smaller pieces, it would still be gold. Gold is made of nothing but gold.
All elements are represented by a chemical symbol. The chemical symbol is one, two, or three letters. The same chemical symbols are used by scientists all over the world. The first letter of the chemical symbol is always capitalized. Other letters in the symbol are written as lower case. For example, the symbol for hydrogen is H, and the symbol for Sodium is Na. Symbols are not abbreviations, so periods are not used after the symbol unless it ends a sentence.
The names and symbols of the elements can be found on the periodic table.
Element names and symbols have a variety of origins. Some of the symbols are the first letter of the element’s name such as S for sulfur. If the first letter of the element’s name has been used, another letter from the name is added. An example would be Si for silicon. Most of the names, and therefore the symbols, of the elements, are from Latin and Greek words. Fe is the symbol for iron and is derived from the Latin word ferrum. Other elements are named for places, such as americium, or people, such as einsteinium. Sometimes, the name and symbol have different origins. The element tungsten was named for the Swedish words tungs and ten which means heavy stone. But the symbol, W, is from the German name wolfram.
Use the periodic table to match the following elements and chemical symbols.