In chemistry, chemical symbol is the use of letters or symbols to represent chemical entities (atoms, molecules, or ions, etc.) using shorthand notation. [1] The basic example is the use of H to represent the element hydrogen.

History
In 1775, Torbern Bergman, in his 1775 A Dissertation on Elective Attractions, began to use of letters (a, b, ab, etc.) to represent chemicals in a generalized manner. [2]

Quotes
The following are related quotes:

“Chemical signs ought to be letters, for the greater facility of writing. I shall take therefore for the chemical sign, the initial letter of the Latin name of each elementary substance: but as several have the same initial letter, by writing the first two letters of the word.”
— Jacob Berzelius (c.1810), Publication (Ѻ)

See also
● Chemical symbol notation
● Human molecular symbols

References
1. Licker, Mark. (2004). McGraw-Hill Concise Encyclopedia of Chemistry. McGraw-Hill.
2. Bergman, Torbern. (1775). A Dissertation on Elective Attractions. London: Frank Cass & Co.

External links
● Chemical symbol – Wikipedia.
● Thermochemistry of Chemical Reactions: Terminology and Symbols – IUPAC.

TDics icon ns