Chemical elements/Bibliography

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• Norman E. Holden. (2001) History of the Origin of the Chemical Elements and Their Discoverers. Prepared for the 41st IUPAC General Assembly in Brisbane, Australia, June 29th - July 8th, 2001. | Free PDF download.
  • 'Origin' here refers to the 'origin of discovery' on Earth: "....the origin of the chemical elements show a wide diversity with some of these elements having an origin in antiquity, other elements having been discovered within the past few hundred years and still others have been synthesized within the past fifty years via nuclear reactions on heavy elements since these other elements are unstable and radioactive and do not exist in nature."
  • Sections:
    • Introduction
    • Determining The Names Of The Chemical Elements
    • Special Difficulties With The Rare Earth Elements
    • Controversial Heavy Elements
    • Individual Element Names And History
      • Alphabetical list by element name, giving the origin of their names and information on their discoverers and/or isolaters.

• Trapp D. (2007) The Chemical Elements: Their Discovery and the Origins of their Names.
  • "This is an effort to present the history of the discovery of the chemical elements and the origins of their names in a way that is both useful and interesting. In some cases enough information is provided so that with adequate caution, an interested chemist might duplicate some of the historical chemistry that led to our current understanding. It is hoped that the following screens provide an enjoyable way to learn more about the chemical elements that comprise our world."
  • Origins of the Element Names (#=atomic number):
    • Substances Known by Alchemists. Contents: #47 Ag, #79 Au, #6 C, #29 Cu, #26 Fe, #80 Hg, #82 Pb, #78 Pt, #16 S, #50 Sn
    • Elements Named for the 7 Planets Known to the Ancients
    • Elements Named after "Modern" Celestial Objects. Contents: #2 He, #34 Se, #46 Pd, #52 Te, #58 Ce, #92 U, #93 Np, #94 Pu
    • Elements Named for Color. Contents: #17 Cl, #24 Cr, #55 Cs, #53 I, #49 In, #77 Ir, #45 Rh, #37 Rb, #81 Tl
    • Elements Named for Properties other than Color. Contents: #1 H, #7 N, #8 O, #15 P, #30 Zn, #35 Br, #51 Sb, #76 Os
    • Names Derived from Mythology or Superstition. Contents: #33 As, #41 Cb (Nb), #27 Co, #41 Nb (Cb), #28 Ni, #61 Pm, #73 Ta, #90 Th, #22 Ti, #23 V, #74 W

• Thomas Jefferson National Accelerator Facility. The Periodic Table of Elements.
  • Clicking on an element brings up a page containing a wealth of information about that element. For example, clicking on 'V' (vanadium) bring up this page, maintained by Steve Gagnon (last accessed 27-Sep-2009), reproduced below (with formatting changes):
  • The Element Vanadium (Click for Isotope Data)
    
  • Atomic Number: 23
    
  • Atomic Weight: 50.9415
    
  • Melting Point: 2183 K (1910°C or 3470°F)
    
  • Boiling Point: 3680 K (3407°C or 6165°F)
    
  • Density: 6.0 grams per cubic centimeter
    
  • Phase at Room Temperature: Solid
    
  • Element Classification: Metal
    
  • Period Number: 4 Group Number: 5 Group Name: none
    
  • What's in a name? Named for the Scandinavian goddess Vanadis.
    
  • Say what? Vanadium is pronounced as veh-NAY-di-em.
    
  • History and Uses:
    
    • Vanadium was discovered by Andrés Manuel del Rio, a Mexican chemist, in 1801. Rio sent samples of vanadium ore and a letter describing his methods to the Institute de France in Paris, France, for analysis and confirmation. Unfortunately for Rio, his letter was lost in a shipwreck and the Institute only received his samples, which contained a brief note describing how much this new element, which Rio had named erythronium, resembled chromium. Rio withdrew his claim when he received a letter from Paris disputing his discovery. Vanadium was rediscovered by Nils Gabriel Sefstrôm, a Swedish chemist, in 1830 while analyzing samples of iron from a mine in Sweden. Vanadium was isolated by Sir Henry Enfield Roscoe, an English chemist, in 1867 by combining vanadium trichloride (VCl3) with hydrogen gas (H2). Today, vanadium is primarily obtained from the minerals vanadinite (Pb5(VO)3Cl) and carnotite (K2(UO2)2VO4•1-3H2O) by heating crushed ore in the presence of carbon and chlorine to produce vanadium trichloride. The vanadium trichloride is then heated with magnesium in an argon atmosphere.
      
    • Vanadium is corrosion resistant and is sometimes used to make special tubes and pipes for the chemical industry. Vanadium also does not easily absorb neutrons and has some applications in the nuclear power industry. A thin layer of vanadium is used to bond titanium to steel.
      
    • Nearly 80% of the vanadium produced is used to make ferrovanadium or as an additive to steel. Ferrovanadium is a strong, shock resistant and corrosion resistant alloy of iron containing between 1% and 6% vanadium. Ferrovanadium and vanadium-steel alloys are used to make such things as axles, crankshafts and gears for cars, parts of jet engines, springs and cutting tools.
      
    • Vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) is perhaps vanadium's most useful compound. It is used as a mordant, a material which permanently fixes dyes to fabrics. Vanadium pentoxide is also used as a catalyst in certain chemical reactions and in the manufacture of ceramics. Vanadium pentoxide can also be mixed with gallium to form superconductive magnets.
      
  • Estimated Crustal Abundance: 1.20×102 milligrams per kilogram
    
  • Estimated Oceanic Abundance: 2.5×10-3 milligrams per liter
    
  • Number of Stable Isotopes: 1 (View all isotope data)
    
  • Ionization Energy: 6.746 eV
    
  • Oxidation States: +5, +4, +3, +2
  • Electron Shell Configuration: 1s2 2s2 2p6 3s2 3p6 3d3 4s2