The ancient Greeks 2,000 years ago thought there were only four elements – earth, air, fire and water. Chemistry was a very primitive affair, since experimental physics was unknown. Instead scientists came to conclusions using reason and deduction. Chemistry progressed very slow and by 1800 there were only about 30 known elements. Research was greatly aided by Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier, who laid down the modern idea of an element. He found and termed oxygen in 1778 and hydrogen in 1783. He put together the first extensive list of elements, and helped to reform chemical nomenclature. He was also the first to establish that sulphur – in 1777 - was an element rather than a compound.
Over the next century however, almost all the stable elements present on Earth were discovered. During the Twentieth Century, more elements were discovered, most of them not occurring naturally, but having to be produced artificially and but only existing briefly in the laboratory.
|
Year of Discovery |
Element |
Symbol |
Atomic Number |
|
ancient |
Copper |
Cu |
29 |
|
ancient |
Sulfur |
S |
16 |
|
ancient |
Silver |
Ag |
47 |
|
ancient |
Tin |
Sn |
50 |
|
ancient |
Antimony |
Sb |
51 |
|
ancient |
Gold |
Au |
79 |
|
ancient |
Mercury |
Hg |
80 |
|
ancient |
Lead |
Pb |
82 |
|
~ 1400 |
Bismuth |
Bi |
83 |
|
1669 |
Phosphorus |
P |
15 |
|
~ 1694 |
Carbon |
C |
6 |
|
1735 |
Iron |
Fe |
26 |
|
1735 |
Platinum |
Pt |
78 |
|
1751 |
Nickel |
Ni |
28 |
|
1751 |
Cobalt |
Co |
27 |
|
1755 |
Magnesium |
Mg |
12 |
|
1772 |
Nitrogen |
N |
7 |
|
1774 |
Oxygen |
O |
8 |
|
1774 |
Manganese |
Mn |
25 |
|
1774 |
Chlorine |
Cl |
17 |
|
1774 |
Chromium |
Cr |
24 |
|
1776 |
Hydrogen |
H |
1 |
|
1781 |
Molybdenum |
Mo |
42 |
|
1782 |
Tellurium |
Te |
52 |
|
1783 |
Tungsten |
W |
74 |
|
1789 |
Zirconium |
Zr |
40 |
|
1789 |
Uranium |
U |
92 |
|
1790 |
Strontium |
Sr |
38 |
|
1791 |
Scandium |
Sc |
21 |
|
1794 |
Yttrium |
Y |
39 |
|
1797 |
Beryllium |
Be |
4 |
|
1797 |
Vanadium |
V |
23 |
|
1801 |
Niobium |
Nb |
41 |
|
1802 |
Tantalum |
Ta |
73 |
|
1803 |
Rhodium |
Rh |
45 |
|
1803 |
Palladium |
Pd |
46 |
|
1803 |
Cerium |
Ce |
58 |
|
1803 |
Osmium |
Os |
76 |
|
1803 |
Iridium |
Ir |
77 |
|
1807 |
Sodium |
Na |
11 |
|
1807 |
Potassium |
K |
19 |
|
1808 |
Boron |
B |
5 |
|
1808 |
Potassium |
K |
19 |
|
1808 |
Barium |
Ba |
56 |
|
1811 |
Iodine |
I |
53 |
|
1817 |
Lithium |
Li |
3 |
|
1817 |
Cadmium |
Cd |
48 |
|
1824 |
Silicon |
Si |
14 |
|
1817 |
Arsenic |
As |
33 |
|
1825 |
Aluminum |
Al |
13 |
|
1826 |
Selenium |
Se |
34 |
|
1829 |
Thorium |
Th |
90 |
|
1830 |
Titanium |
Ti |
22 |
|
1839 |
Lanthanum |
La |
57 |
|
1842 |
Erbium |
Er |
68 |
|
1843 |
Terbium |
Tb |
65 |
|
1844 |
Ruthenium |
Ru |
44 |
|
1860 |
Cesium |
Cs |
55 |
|
1861 |
Rubidium |
Rb |
37 |
|
1861 |
Thallium |
Tl |
81 |
|
1863 |
Indium |
Tn |
49 |
|
1867 |
Holmium |
Ho |
67 |
|
1875 |
Zinc |
Zn |
30 |
|
1878 |
Ytterbium |
Yb |
70 |
|
1879 |
Calcium |
Ca |
20 |
|
1879 |
Samarium |
Sm |
62 |
|
1879 |
Thulium |
Tm |
69 |
|
1880 |
Gadolinium |
Gd |
64 |
|
1885 |
Praseodymium |
Pr |
59 |
|
1885 |
Neodymium |
Nd |
60 |
|
1886 |
Fluorine |
F |
9 |
|
1886 |
Germanium |
Ge |
32 |
|
1886 |
Gallium |
Ga |
31 |
|
1886 |
Dysprosium |
Dy |
66 |
|
1894 |
Argon |
Ar |
18 |
|
1895 |
Helium |
He |
2 |
|
1898 |
Neon |
Ne |
10 |
|
1898 |
Krypton |
Kr |
36 |
|
1898 |
Xenon |
Xe |
54 |
|
1898 |
Polonium |
Po |
84 |
|
1898 |
Radium |
Ra |
88 |
|
1899 |
Actinium |
Ac |
89 |
|
1900 |
Radon |
Rn |
86 |
|
1901 |
Europium |
Eu |
63 |
|
1907 |
Lutetium |
Lu |
71 |
|
1913 |
Protactinium |
Pa |
91 |
|
1923 |
Hafnium |
Hf |
72 |
|
1925 |
Rhenium |
Re |
75 |
|
1937 |
Technetium |
Tc |
43 |
|
1939 |
Francium |
Fr |
87 |
|
1940 |
Astatine |
At |
85 |
|
1940 |
Neptunium |
Np |
93 |
|
1940 |
Plutonium |
Pu |
94 |
|
1944 |
Americium |
Am |
95 |
|
1944 |
Curium |
Cm |
96 |
|
1945 |
Promethium |
Pm |
61 |
|
1949 |
Berkelium |
Bk |
97 |
|
1950 |
Californium |
Cf |
98 |
|
1952 |
Einsteinium |
Es |
99 |
|
1952 |
Fermium |
Fm |
100 |
|
1955 |
Mendelevium |
Md |
101 |
|
1958 |
Nobelium |
No |
102 |
|
1961 |
Lawrencium |
Lr |
103 |
|
1964 |
Rutherfordium |
Rf |
104 |
|
1967 |
Dubnium |
Db |
105 |
|
1974 |
Seaborgium |
Sg |
106 |
|
1981 |
Bohrium |
Bh |
107 |
|
1982 |
Meitnerium |
Mt |
109 |
|
1984 |
Hassium |
Hs |
108 |
|
1994 |
Darmstadtium |
Ds |
110 |
|
1994 |
Roentgenium |
Rg |
111 |
|
1996 |
Ununbium |
Uub |
112 |
|
1998 |
Ununtrium |
Uut |
113 |
|
1999 |
Ununoctium |
Uuo |
118 |
|
1999 |
Ununquadium |
Uuq |
114 |
|
2000 |
Ununhexium |
Uuh |
116 |
|
2004 |
Ununpentium |
Uup |
115 |
|
unknown |
Ununseptium |
Uus |
117 |