Part of a series on the |
Periodic table |
---|
The discovery of the 118 chemical elements known to exist as of 2023 is presented in chronological order. The elements are listed generally in the order in which each was first defined as the pure element, as the exact date of discovery of most elements cannot be accurately determined. There are plans to synthesize more elements, and it is not known how many elements are possible.
Each element's name, atomic number, year of first report, name of the discoverer, and notes related to the discovery are listed.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Group → | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
↓ Period | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
1 | 1 H |
2 He | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | 3 Li |
4 Be |
5 B |
6 C |
7 N |
8 O |
9 F |
10 Ne | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | 11 Na |
12 Mg |
13 Al |
14 Si |
15 P |
16 S |
17 Cl |
18 Ar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | 19 K |
20 Ca |
21 Sc |
22 Ti |
23 V |
24 Cr |
25 Mn |
26 Fe |
27 Co |
28 Ni |
29 Cu |
30 Zn |
31 Ga |
32 Ge |
33 As |
34 Se |
35 Br |
36 Kr | ||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | 37 Rb |
38 Sr |
39 Y |
40 Zr |
41 Nb |
42 Mo |
43 Tc |
44 Ru |
45 Rh |
46 Pd |
47 Ag |
48 Cd |
49 In |
50 Sn |
51 Sb |
52 Te |
53 I |
54 Xe | ||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | 55 Cs |
56 Ba |
![]() |
71 Lu |
72 Hf |
73 Ta |
74 W |
75 Re |
76 Os |
77 Ir |
78 Pt |
79 Au |
80 Hg |
81 Tl |
82 Pb |
83 Bi |
84 Po |
85 At |
86 Rn | |||||||||||||||||||||
7 | 87 Fr |
88 Ra |
![]() |
103 Lr |
104 Rf |
105 Db |
106 Sg |
107 Bh |
108 Hs |
109 Mt |
110 Ds |
111 Rg |
112 Cn |
113 Nh |
114 Fl |
115 Mc |
116 Lv |
117 Ts |
118 Og | |||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
57 La |
58 Ce |
59 Pr |
60 Nd |
61 Pm |
62 Sm |
63 Eu |
64 Gd |
65 Tb |
66 Dy |
67 Ho |
68 Er |
69 Tm |
70 Yb |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
![]() |
89 Ac |
90 Th |
91 Pa |
92 U |
93 Np |
94 Pu |
95 Am |
96 Cm |
97 Bk |
98 Cf |
99 Es |
100 Fm |
101 Md |
102 No |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Z | Element | Earliest use | Oldest existing sample |
Discoverer(s) | Place of oldest sample |
Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
29 | Copper | 9000 BC | 6000 BC | Middle East | Anatolia | Copper was probably the first metal mined and crafted by humans.[1] It was originally obtained as a native metal and later from the smelting of ores. Earliest estimates of the discovery of copper suggest around 9000 BC in the Middle East. It was one of the most important materials to humans throughout the Chalcolithic and Bronze Ages. Copper beads dating from 6000 BC have been found in Çatalhöyük, Anatolia[2] and the archaeological site of Belovode on the Rudnik mountain in Serbia contains the world's oldest securely dated evidence of copper smelting from 5000 BC.[3][4] Recognised as an element by Louis Guyton de Morveau, Antoine Lavoisier, Claude Berthollet, and Antoine-François de Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
82 | Lead | 7000 BC | 3800 BC | Africa | Abydos, Egypt | It is believed that lead smelting began at least 9,000 years ago, and the oldest known artifact of lead is a statuette found at the temple of Osiris on the site of Abydos dated around 3800 BC.[6] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
79 | Gold | Before 6000 BC | Before 4000 BC | Levant | Wadi Qana | The earliest gold artifacts were discovered at the site of Wadi Qana in the Levant.[7] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
47 | Silver | Before 5000 BC | ca. 4000 BC | Asia Minor | Asia Minor | Estimated to have been discovered in Asia Minor shortly after copper and gold.[8][9] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
26 | Iron | Before 5000 BC | 4000 BC | Middle East | Egypt | There is evidence that iron was known from before 5000 BC.[10] The oldest known iron objects used by humans are some beads of meteoric iron, made in Egypt in about 4000 BC. The discovery of smelting around 3000 BC led to the start of the Iron Age around 1200 BC[11] and the prominent use of iron for tools and weapons.[12] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
6 | Carbon | 3750 BC | 2500 BC | Egyptians and Sumerians | Middle East | Charcoal and soot were known to the earliest humans.[5] The earliest known use of charcoal was for the reduction of copper, zinc, and tin ores in the manufacture of bronze, by the Egyptians and Sumerians.[13] Diamonds were probably known as early as 2500 BC.[14] True chemical analyses were made in the 18th century,[15] and in 1772 Antoine Lavoisier demonstrated that diamond, graphite, and charcoal are all composed of the same substance.[5] In 1787, de Morveau, Fourcroy, and Lavoisier listed carbon (in French, carbone) as an element, distinguishing it from coal (in French, charbon).[5] |
50 | Tin | 3500 BC | 2000 BC | Asia Minor | Kestel | First smelted in combination with copper around 3500 BC to produce bronze (and thus giving place to the Bronze Age in those places where Iron Age did not intrude directly on Neolithic of the Stone Age).[clarification needed][16] Kestel, in southern Turkey, is the site of an ancient Cassiterite mine that was used from 3250 to 1800 BC.[17] The oldest artifacts date from around 2000 BC.[18] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
16 | Sulfur | Before 2000 BC | Middle East | Middle East | First used at least 4,000 years ago.[19] According to the Ebers Papyrus, a sulfur ointment was used in ancient Egypt to treat granular eyelids.[20] Designated as one of the two elements of which all metals are composed in the sulfur-mercury theory of metals, first described in pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana's Sirr al-khaliqa ('Secret of Creation') and in the works attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan (both 8th or 9th century).[21] Designated as a univeral element (one of the tria prima) by Paracelsus in the early 16th century. Recognized as an element by Lavoisier in 1777, which was confirmed by Joseph Gay-Lussac and Louis Jacques Thénard in 1810.[5] | |
80 | Mercury | 1500 BC | 1500 BC | Egyptians | Egypt | Found in Egyptian tombs dating from 1500 BC.[22] Recognised as an element by Guyton de Morveau, Lavoisier, Berthollet, and Fourcroy in 1787.[5] |
30 | Zinc | Before 1000 BC | 1000 BC | Indian metallurgists | Indian subcontinent | Used as a component of brass since antiquity (before 1000 BC) by Indian metallurgists, but its true nature was not understood in ancient times. Zinc smelting was done in China and India around 1300.[5] Identified as a distinct metal in the Rasaratna Samuccaya around the 14th century of the Christian era[23] and by the alchemist Paracelsus in 1526,[24] who gave it its present name and described it as a new metal.[5] P. M. de Respour isolated it from zinc oxide in 1668;[5] the first detailed documentation of zinc isolation was given by Andreas Sigismund Marggraf in 1746.[25] |
78 | Platinum | c. 600 BC – AD 200 | c. 600 BC – AD 200 | Pre-Columbian South Americans | South America | Used by pre-Columbian Americans near modern-day Esmeraldas, Ecuador to produce artifacts of a white gold-platinum alloy, although precise dating is difficult.[26] First European description of a metal found in South American gold was in 1557 by Julius Caesar Scaliger. Antonio de Ulloa was on an expedition to Peru in 1735, where he observed the metal; he published his findings in 1748. Sir Charles Wood also investigated the metal in 1741. First reference to it as a new metal was made by William Brownrigg in 1750.[27] |
33 | Arsenic | c. 850–950 | c. 850–950 | Jabir ibn Hayyan | Middle East | The use of metallic arsenic was described by the Egyptian alchemist Zosimos.[28] The purification of arsenic was later described in the works attributed to the Muslim alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 850–950).[29] Albertus Magnus (c. 1200–1280) is typically credited with the description of the metal in the West,[30] though some question his work and instead credit Vannoccio Biringuccio, whose De la pirotechnia (1540) distinguishes orpiment from crystalline arsenic. The first to unquestionably have prepared metallic arsenic was Johann Schröder in 1641. Recognised as an element after Lavoisier's definition in 1787.[5] |
51 | Antimony | c. 850–950 | c. 850–950 | Jabir ibn Hayyan | Middle East | Dioscorides and Pliny both describe the accidental production of metallic antimony from stibnite, but only seem to recognize the metal as lead.[31] The intentional isolation of antimony is described in the works attributed to the Muslim alchemist Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 850–950).[29] In Europe, the metal was being produced and used by 1540, when it was described by Vannoccio Biringuccio.[32] Described again by Georgius Agricola De re metallica in 1556. Probably first recognised as an element by Lavoisier in 1787.[5] |
83 | Bismuth | c. 1500[33] | c. 1500 | European alchemists and Inca civilisation | Europe and South America | Bismuth was known since ancient times, but often confused with tin and lead, which are chemically similar. The Incas used bismuth (along with the usual copper and tin) in a special bronze alloy for knives.[34] Agricola (1546) states that bismuth is a distinct metal in a family of metals including tin and lead. This was based on observation of the metals and their physical properties.[35] Miners in the age of alchemy also gave bismuth the name tectum argenti, or "silver being made" in the sense of silver still in the process of being formed within the Earth.[36][37][38] Beginning with Johann Heinrich Pott in 1738,[39] Carl Wilhelm Scheele, and Torbern Olof Bergman, the distinctness of lead and bismuth became clear, and Claude François Geoffroy demonstrated in 1753 that this metal is distinct from lead and tin.[37][40][41] |
15 | Phosphorus | 1669 | H. Brand | Prepared and isolated from urine, it was the first element whose discovery date and discoverer is recorded.[42] The last discovery belonging to alchemy rather than modern chemistry. Recognised as an element by Lavoisier.[5] |
For 18th-century discoveries, around the time that Antoine Lavoisier first questioned the phlogiston theory, the recognition of a new "earth" has been regarded as being equivalent to the discovery of a new element (as was the general practice then).[5]
Z | Element | Observed or predicted | Isolated (widely known) | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
By | By | |||||
27 | Cobalt | 1735 | G. Brandt | 1735 | G. Brandt | Proved that the blue color of glass is due to a new kind of metal and not bismuth as thought previously.[43] |
28 | Nickel | 1751 | F. Cronstedt | 1751 | F. Cronstedt | Found by attempting to extract copper from the mineral known as fake copper (now known as niccolite).[44] |
12 | Magnesium | 1755 | J. Black | 1808 | H. Davy | Joseph Black observed that magnesia alba (MgO) was not quicklime (CaO) in 1755; until then both substances were confused. Davy isolated the metal electrochemically from magnesia.[45] |
20 | Calcium | 1755 | J. Black | 1808 | H. Davy | Joseph Black observed that magnesia alba (MgO) was not quicklime (CaO) in 1755; until then both substances were confused. Davy isolated the metal by electrolysis of quicklime.[46] |
13 | Aluminium | 1756 | A. S. Marggraf | 1824 | H.C.Ørsted | In 1746, Johann Heinrich Pott published a treatise distinguishing alum from lime and chalk, and Marggraf precipitated the new earth alumina in 1756.[5] Antoine Lavoisier predicted in 1787 that alumina is the oxide of an undiscovered element, and in 1808 Davy tried to decompose it. Although he failed, he proved Lavoisier correct and suggested the present name.[47][48] Hans Christian Ørsted was the first to isolate metallic aluminium in 1824.[49][50] |
11 | Sodium | 1758 | A. S. Marggraf | 1807 | H. Davy | Andreas Sigismund Marggraf recognised the difference between soda ash and potash in 1758, but not all chemists accepted his conclusion. In 1797, Martin Heinrich Klaproth suggested the names natron and kali for the two alkalis (whence the symbols). Davy isolated sodium metal a few days after potassium, by using electrolysis on sodium hydroxide.[46] |
19 | Potassium | 1758 | A. S. Marggraf | 1807 | H. Davy | Andreas Sigismund Marggraf recognised the difference between soda ash and potash in 1758, but not all chemists accepted his conclusion. In 1797, Martin Heinrich Klaproth suggested the names natron and kali for the two alkalis (whence the symbols). Davy isolated potassium metal by using electrolysis on potash.[51] |
1 | Hydrogen | 1766 | H. Cavendish | 1766 | H. Cavendish | Cavendish was the first to distinguish H 2 from other gases,[52] although Paracelsus around 1500, Robert Boyle,[53][54] and Joseph Priestley had observed its production by reacting strong acids with metals. Lavoisier named it in 1783.[55][56] It was the first elemental gas known. |
9 | Fluorine | 1771 | W. Scheele | 1886 | H. Moissan | Scheele studied fluorspar and correctly concluded it to be the lime (calcium) salt of an acid.[57] Radical fluorique appears on the list of elements in Lavoisier's Traité Élémentaire de Chimie from 1789, but radical muriatique also appears instead of chlorine.[58] André-Marie Ampère again predicted in 1810 that hydrofluoric acid contained an element analogous to chlorine, and between 1812 and 1886 many researchers tried to obtain it. It was eventually isolated by Moissan.[59] |
8 | Oxygen | 1771 | W. Scheele | 1771 | W. Scheele | Scheele obtained it by heating mercuric oxide and nitrates in 1771, but did not publish his findings until 1777. Joseph Priestley also prepared this new air by 1774, but only Lavoisier recognized it as a true element; he named it in 1777.[60][61] Before him, Sendivogius had produced oxygen by heating saltpetre, correctly identifying it as the "food of life".[62] |
7 | Nitrogen | 1772 | D. Rutherford | 1772 | D. Rutherford | Rutherford discovered nitrogen while studying at the University of Edinburgh.[63] He showed that the air in which animals had breathed, even after removal of the exhaled carbon dioxide, was no longer able to burn a candle. Carl Wilhelm Scheele, Henry Cavendish, and Joseph Priestley also studied the element at about the same time, and Lavoisier named it in 1775–6.[64] |
56 | Barium | 1772 | W. Scheele | 1808 | H. Davy | Scheele distinguished a new earth (BaO) in pyrolusite in 1772. He did not name his discovery; Guyton de Morveau suggested barote in 1782.[5] It was changed to baryte in the Méthode de nomenclature chimique of Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Antoine Lavoisier, Claude Louis Berthollet, and Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy (1787). Davy isolated the metal by electrolysis.[65] |
17 | Chlorine | 1774 | W. Scheele | 1774 | W. Scheele | Obtained it from hydrochloric acid, but thought it was an oxide. Only in 1808 did Humphry Davy recognize it as an element.[66][67] |
25 | Manganese | 1774 | W. Scheele | 1774 | G. Gahn | Distinguished pyrolusite as the calx of a new metal. Ignatius Gottfred Kaim is sometimes listed as also having discovered the new metal in 1770, as did Scheele in 1774. It was isolated by reduction of manganese dioxide with carbon.[68] |
42 | Molybdenum | 1778 | W. Scheele | 1781 | J. Hjelm | Scheele recognised the metal as a constituent of molybdena.[69] |
74 | Tungsten | 1781 | W. Scheele | 1783 | J. and F. Elhuyar | Scheele showed that scheelite (then called tungsten) was a salt of calcium with a new acid, which he called tungstic acid. The Elhuyars obtained tungstic acid from wolframite and reduced it with charcoal, naming the element "volfram".[5][70] Since that time both names, tungsten and wolfram, have been used depending on language.[5] In 1949 IUPAC made wolfram the scientific name, but this was repealed after protest in 1951 in favour of recognising both names pending a further review (which never materialised). Currently only tungsten is recognised for use in English.[67] |
52 | Tellurium | 1782 | F.-J.M. von Reichenstein | 1798 | H. Klaproth | Muller observed it as an impurity in gold ores from Transylvania.[71] Klaproth isolated it in 1798.[67] |
38 | Strontium | 1787 | W. Cruikshank | 1808 | H. Davy | W. Cruikshank in 1787 and Adair Crawford in 1790 concluded that strontianite contained a new earth. It was eventually isolated electrochemically in 1808 by Davy.[72] |
5 | Boron | 1787 | L. Guyton de Morveau, A. Lavoisier, C. L. Berthollet, and A. de Fourcroy | 1808 | H. Davy | In 1787, radical boracique appeared in the Méthode de nomenclature chimique of Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau, Antoine Lavoisier, Claude Louis Berthollet, and Antoine François, comte de Fourcroy.[5] It also appears in Lavoisier's Traité Élémentaire de Chimie from 1789.[58] On June 21, 1808, Lussac and Thénard announced a new element in sedative salt, Davy announced the isolation of a new substance from boracic acid on June 30.[73] Davy then prepared a pure sample via electrolysis.[67] |
14 | Silicon | 1789 | A. Lavoisier | 1823 | J. Berzelius | Silica appears as a "simple earth" in the Méthode de nomenclature chimique, and in 1789 Lavoisier concluded that the element must exist.[5] Davy thought in 1800 that silica was a compound, not an element, and in 1808 he proved this although he could not isolate the element, and suggested the present name.[74][75] In 1811 Louis-Joseph Gay-Lussac and Louis-Jacques Thénard probably prepared impure silicon,[76] and Berzelius obtained the pure element in 1823.[77] |
1789 | A. Lavoisier | Lavoisier writes the first modern list of chemical elements – containing 33 elements including light and heat but omitting Na, K (he was unsure of whether soda and potash without carbonic acid, i.e. Na2O and K2O, are simple substances or compounds like NH3),[78] Sr, Te; some elements were listed in the table as unextracted "radicals" (Cl, F, B) or as oxides (Ca, Mg, Ba, Al, Si).[58] He also redefines the term "element". Until then, no metals except mercury were considered elements. | ||||
40 | Zirconium | 1789 | H. Klaproth | 1824 | J. Berzelius | Martin Heinrich Klaproth identified a new oxide in zircon in 1789,[79][80] and in 1808 Davy showed that this oxide has a metallic base although he could not isolate it.[81][82] |
92 | Uranium | 1789 | H. Klaproth | 1841 | E.-M. Péligot | Klaproth mistakenly identified a uranium oxide obtained from pitchblende as the element itself and named it after the recently discovered planet Uranus.[83][84] |
22 | Titanium | 1791 | W. Gregor | 1825 | J. Berzelius | Gregor found an oxide of a new metal in ilmenite; Klaproth independently discovered the element in rutile in 1795 and named it. The pure metallic form was only obtained in 1910 by Matthew A. Hunter.[85][86] |
39 | Yttrium | 1794 | J. Gadolin | 1843 | H. Rose | Johan Gadolin discovered the earth in gadolinite in 1794, but Mosander showed later that its ore, yttria, contained more elements.[87][88] In 1808, Davy showed that yttria is a metallic oxide, although he could not isolate the metal.[89][90] Wöhler mistakenly thought he had isolated the metal in 1828 from a volatile chloride he supposed to be yttrium chloride,[91][92] but Rose proved otherwise in 1843 and correctly isolated the element himself that year. |
24 | Chromium | 1797 | N. Vauquelin | 1798 | N. Vauquelin | Vauquelin analysed the composition of crocoite ore in 1797, and later isolated the metal by heating the oxide in a charcoal oven.[5][93][94] |
4 | Beryllium | 1798 | N. Vauquelin | 1828 | F. Wöhler and A. Bussy | Vauquelin discovered the oxide in beryl and emerald in 1798, and in 1808 Davy showed that this oxide has a metallic base although he could not isolate it.[95][96] Vauquelin was uncertain about the name to give to the oxide: in 1798 he called it la terre du beril, but the journal editors named it glucine after the sweet taste of beryllium compounds (which are highly toxic). Johann Heinrich Friedrich Link proposed in 1799 to change the name from Glucine to Beryllerde or Berylline (because glucine resembled glycine), a suggestion taken up by Klaproth in 1800 in the form beryllina. Klaproth had independently worked on beryl and emerald and likewise concluded that a new element was present. The name beryllium for the element was first used by Wöhler upon its isolation (Davy used the name glucium). Both names beryllium and glucinium were used (the latter mostly in France) until IUPAC decided on the name beryllium in 1949.[5] |
23 | Vanadium | 1801 | A. M. del Río | 1867 | H.E.Roscoe | Andrés Manuel del Río found the metal (calling it erythronium) in vanadinite in 1801, but the claim was rejected after Hippolyte Victor Collet-Descotils dismissed it as chromium based on erroneous and superficial testing.[97] Nils Gabriel Sefström rediscovered the element in 1830 and named it vanadium. Friedrich Wöhler then showed that vanadium was identical to erythronium and thus that del Río had been right in the first place.[98][99] Del Río then argued passionately that his old claim be recognised, but the element kept the name vanadium.[99] |
41 | Niobium | 1801 | C. Hatchett | 1864 | W. Blomstrand | Hatchett found the element in columbite ore and named it columbium. In 1809, W. H. Wollaston claimed that columbium and tantalum are identical, which proved to be false.[67] Heinrich Rose proved in 1844 that the element is distinct from tantalum, and renamed it niobium. American scientists generally used the name columbium, while European ones used niobium. Niobium was officially accepted by IUPAC in 1949.[100] |
73 | Tantalum | 1802 | G. Ekeberg | Ekeberg found another element in minerals similar to columbite, and named it after Tantalus from Greek mythology because of its inability to be dissolved by acids (just as Tantalus was tantalised by water that receded when he tried to drink it).[67] In 1809, W. H. Wollaston claimed that columbium and tantalum are identical, which proved to be false.[67] In 1844, Heinrich Rose proved that the elements were distinct and renamed columbium to niobium (Niobe is the daughter of Tantalus).[101] | ||
46 | Palladium | 1802 | W. H. Wollaston | 1802 | W. H. Wollaston | Wollaston discovered it in samples of platinum from South America, but did not publish his results immediately. He had intended to name it after the newly discovered asteroid, Ceres, but by the time he published his results in 1804, cerium had taken that name. Wollaston named it after the more recently discovered asteroid Pallas.[102] |
58 | Cerium | 1803 | H. Klaproth, J. Berzelius, and W. Hisinger | 1838 | G. Mosander | Berzelius and Hisinger discovered the element in ceria and named it after the newly discovered asteroid (then considered a planet), Ceres. Klaproth discovered it simultaneously and independently in some tantalum samples. Mosander proved later that the samples of all three researchers had at least another element in them, lanthanum.[103] |
76 | Osmium | 1803 | S. Tennant | 1803 | S. Tennant | Tennant had been working on samples of South American platinum in parallel with Wollaston and discovered two new elements, which he named osmium and iridium.[104] |
77 | Iridium | 1803 | S. Tennant and H.-V. Collet-Descotils | 1803 | S. Tennant | Tennant had been working on samples of South American platinum in parallel with Wollaston and discovered two new elements, which he named osmium and iridium, and published the iridium results in 1804.[105] Collet-Descotils also found iridium the same year, but not osmium.[67] |
45 | Rhodium | 1804 | H. Wollaston | 1804 | H. Wollaston | Wollaston discovered and isolated it from crude platinum samples from South America.[106] |
53 | Iodine | 1811 | B. Courtois | 1811 | B. Courtois | Courtois discovered it in the ashes of seaweed.[107] The name was given by Davy in 1813.[67] |
3 | Lithium | 1817 | A. Arfwedson | 1821 | W. T. Brande | Arfwedson discovered the alkali in petalite.[108] |
48 | Cadmium | 1817 | S. L Hermann, F. Stromeyer, and J.C.H. Roloff | 1817 | S. L Hermann, F. Stromeyer, and J.C.H. Roloff | All three found an unknown metal in a sample of zinc oxide from Silesia, but the name that Stromeyer gave became the accepted one.[109] |
34 | Selenium | 1817 | J. Berzelius and G. Gahn | 1817 | J. Berzelius and G. Gahn | While working with lead they discovered a substance that they thought was tellurium, but realized after more investigation that it was different.[110] |
35 | Bromine | 1825 | J. Balard and C. Löwig | 1825 | J. Balard and C. Löwig | They both discovered the element in the autumn of 1825. Balard published his results the next year,[111] but Löwig did not publish until 1827.[112] |
90 | Thorium | 1829 | J. Berzelius | 1914 | D. Lely, Jr. and L. Hamburger | Berzelius obtained the oxide of a new earth in thorite.[113] |
57 | Lanthanum | 1838 | G. Mosander | 1841 | G. Mosander | Mosander found a new element in samples of ceria and published his results in 1842, but later he showed that this lanthana contained four more elements.[114] |
60 | Neodymium | 1841 | G. Mosander | 1885 | C. A. von Welsbach | Discovered by Mosander and called didymium. Carl Auer von Welsbach later split it into two elements, praseodymium and neodymium. Neodymium had formed the greater part of the old didymium and received the prefix "neo-".[67][115] |
68 | Erbium | 1843 | G. Mosander | 1879 | T. Cleve | Mosander managed to split the old yttria into yttria proper and erbia, and later terbia too.[116] |
65 | Terbium | 1843 | G. Mosander | 1886 | J.C.G. de Marignac | Mosander managed to split the old yttria into yttria proper and erbia, and later terbia too.[117] |
44 | Ruthenium | 1844 | K. Claus | 1844 | K. Claus | Gottfried Wilhelm Osann thought that he found three new metals in Russian platinum samples, and in 1844 Karl Karlovich Klaus confirmed that there was a new element.[118] |
55 | Caesium | 1860 | R. Bunsen and R. Kirchhoff | 1882 | C. Setterberg | Bunsen and Kirchhoff were the first to suggest finding new elements by spectrum analysis. They discovered caesium by its two blue emission lines in a sample of Dürkheim mineral water.[119] The pure metal was eventually isolated in 1882 by Setterberg.[120] |
37 | Rubidium | 1861 | R. Bunsen and G. R. Kirchhoff | Hevesy | Bunsen and Kirchhoff discovered it just a few months after caesium, by observing new spectral lines in the mineral lepidolite. Bunsen never obtained a pure sample of the metal, which was later obtained by Hevesy.[121] | |
81 | Thallium | 1861 | W. Crookes | 1862 | C.-A. Lamy | Shortly after the discovery of rubidium, Crookes found a new green line in a selenium sample; later that year, Lamy found the element to be metallic.[122] |
49 | Indium | 1863 | F. Reich and T. Richter | 1867 | T. Richter | Reich and Richter first identified it in sphalerite by its bright indigo-blue spectroscopic emission line. Richter isolated the metal several years later.[123] |
2 | Helium | 1868 | N. Lockyer | 1895 | W. Ramsay, T. Cleve, and N. Langlet | P. Janssen and Lockyer observed independently a yellow line in the solar spectrum that did not match any other element. However, only Lockyer made the correct conclusion that it was due to a new element. This was the first observation of a noble gas, located in the Sun. Years later after the isolation of argon on Earth, Ramsay, Cleve, and Langlet observed independently helium trapped in cleveite.[124] |
1869 | D. I. Mendeleev | Mendeleev arranges the 63 elements known at that time (omitting terbium, as chemists were unsure of its existence, and helium, as it was not found on Earth) into the first modern periodic table and correctly predicts several others. | ||||
31 | Gallium | 1875 | P. E. L. de Boisbaudran | P. E. L. de Boisbaudran | Boisbaudran observed on a pyrenea blende sample some emission lines corresponding to the eka-aluminium that was predicted by Mendeleev in 1871 and subsequently isolated the element by electrolysis.[125][126] | |
70 | Ytterbium | 1878 | J.C.G. de Marignac | 1906 | C. A. von Welsbach | On October 22, 1878, Marignac reported splitting terbia into two new earths, terbia proper and ytterbia.[127] |
67 | Holmium | 1878 | J.-L. Soret and M. Delafontaine | 1879 | T. Cleve | Soret found it in samarskite and later, Per Teodor Cleve split Marignac's erbia into erbia proper and two new elements, thulium and holmium. Delafontaine's philippium turned out to be identical to what Soret found.[128][129] |
21 | Scandium | 1879 | F. Nilson | 1879 | F. Nilson | Nilson split Marignac's ytterbia into pure ytterbia and a new element that matched Mendeleev's 1871 predicted eka-boron.[130] |
69 | Thulium | 1879 | T. Cleve | 1879 | T. Cleve | Cleve split Marignac's erbia into erbia proper and two new elements, thulium and holmium.[131] |
62 | Samarium | 1879 | P.E.L. de Boisbaudran | 1879 | P.E.L. de Boisbaudran | Boisbaudran noted a new earth in samarskite and named it samaria after the mineral.[132] |
64 | Gadolinium | 1880 | J. C. G. de Marignac | 1886 | P.E.L. de Boisbaudran | Marignac initially observed the new earth in terbia, and later Boisbaudran obtained a pure sample from samarskite.[133] |
59 | Praseodymium | 1885 | C. A. von Welsbach | Carl Auer von Welsbach discovered it in Mosander's didymia.[134] | ||
32 | Germanium | 1886 | C. A. Winkler | In February 1886 Winkler found in argyrodite the eka-silicon that Mendeleev had predicted in 1871.[135] | ||
66 | Dysprosium | 1886 | P.E.L. de Boisbaudran | 1905 | G. Urbain | De Boisbaudran found a new earth in erbia.[136] |
18 | Argon | 1894 | Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay | 1894 | Lord Rayleigh and W. Ramsay | They discovered the gas by comparing the molecular weights of nitrogen prepared by liquefaction from air and nitrogen prepared by chemical means. It is the first noble gas to be isolated.[137] |
63 | Europium | 1896 | E.-A. Demarçay | 1901 | E.-A. Demarçay | Demarçay found spectral lines of a new element in Lecoq's samarium, and separated this element several years later.[138] |
36 | Krypton | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | On May 30, 1898, Ramsay separated a noble gas from liquid argon by difference in boiling point.[139] |
10 | Neon | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | In June 1898 Ramsay separated a new noble gas from liquid argon by difference in boiling point.[139] |
54 | Xenon | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | 1898 | W. Ramsay and W. Travers | On July 12, 1898 Ramsay separated a third noble gas within three weeks, from liquid argon by difference in boiling point.[140] |
84 | Polonium | 1898 | P. and M. Curie | 1902 | W. Marckwald | In an experiment done on July 13, 1898, the Curies noted an increased radioactivity in the uranium obtained from pitchblende, which they ascribed to an unknown element. Independently rediscovered and isolated in 1902 by Marckwald, who named it radiotellurium.[141] |
88 | Radium | 1898 | P. and M. Curie | 1902 | M. Curie | The Curies reported on December 26, 1898, a new element different from polonium, which Marie later isolated from uraninite.[142] |
86 | Radon | 1899 | E. Rutherford and R. B. Owens | 1910 | W. Ramsay and R. Whytlaw-Gray | Rutherford and Owens discovered a radioactive gas resulting from the radioactive decay of thorium, isolated later by Ramsay and Gray. In 1900, Friedrich Ernst Dorn discovered a longer-lived isotope of the same gas from the radioactive decay of radium. Since "radon" was first used to specifically designate Dorn's isotope before it became the name for the element, he is often mistakenly given credit for the latter instead of the former.[143][144] |
89 | Actinium | 1902 | F. O. Giesel | 1903 | F. O. Giesel | Giesel obtained from pitchblende a substance that had properties similar to those of lanthanum and named it emanium.[145] André-Louis Debierne had previously (in 1899 and 1900) reported the discovery of a new element actinium that was supposedly similar to titanium and thorium, which cannot have included much actual element 89. But by 1904, when Giesel and Debierne met, both had radiochemically pure element 89, and so Debierne has generally been given credit for the discovery.[146] |
71 | Lutetium | 1906 | C. A. von Welsbach and G. Urbain | 1906 | C. A. von Welsbach | von Welsbach proved that the old ytterbium also contained a new element, which he named cassiopeium (he renamed the larger part of the old ytterbium to aldebaranium). Urbain also proved this at about the same time (von Welsbach's paper was published first, but Urbain sent his to the editor first), naming the new element lutetium and the old one neoytterbium (which later reverted back to ytterbium). However, Urbain's samples were very impure and only contained trace quantities of the new element. Despite this, his chosen name lutetium was adopted by the International Committee of Atomic Weights, whose membership included Urbain. The German Atomic Weights Commission adopted cassiopeium for the next forty years. Finally in 1949 IUPAC decided in favour of the name lutetium as it was more often used.[67][147] |
91 | Protactinium | 1913 | O. H. Göhring and K. Fajans | 1927 | A. von Grosse | The two obtained the first isotope of this element, 234mPa, that had been predicted by Mendeleev in 1871 as a member of the natural decay of 238U: they named it brevium. A longer-lived isotope 231Pa was found in 1918 by Otto Hahn and Lise Meitner, and was named by them protoactinium: since it is longer-lived, it gave the element its name. Protoactinium was changed to protactinium in 1949.[148] Originally isolated in 1900 by William Crookes, who nevertheless did not recognize that it was a new element.[149] |
72 | Hafnium | 1922 | D. Coster and G. von Hevesy | 1922 | D. Coster and G. von Hevesy | Georges Urbain claimed to have found the element in rare-earth residues, while Vladimir Vernadsky independently found it in orthite. Neither claim was confirmed due to World War I, and neither could be confirmed later, as the chemistry they reported does not match that now known for hafnium. After the war, Coster and Hevesy found it by X-ray spectroscopic analysis in Norwegian zircon.[150] |
75 | Rhenium | 1925 | W. Noddack, I. Noddack, O. Berg | 1928 | W. Noddack, I. Noddack | In 1925 Walter Noddack, Ida Eva Tacke and Otto Berg announced its separation from gadolinite and gave it the present name.[151][152] Masataka Ogawa claimed to have found a new element in thorianite in 1908, but assigned it as element 43 and named it nipponium;[153] the Japanese nuclear chemist Kenji Yoshihara has attempted to reinterpret Ogawa's data as a discovery of rhenium, but the evidence for this is insufficiently conclusive.[154] Rhenium was the last stable element to be discovered. |
43 | Technetium | 1937 | C. Perrier and E. Segrè | 1937 | C. Perrier & E. Segrè | The two discovered a new element in a molybdenum sample that was used in a cyclotron, the first element to be discovered by synthesis. It had been predicted by Mendeleev in 1871 as eka-manganese.[155][156][157] In 1952, Paul W. Merrill found its spectral lines in S-type red giants.[158] Minuscule trace quantities were finally found on Earth in 1962 by B. T. Kenna and Paul K. Kuroda: they isolated it from Belgian Congo pitchblende, where it occurs as a spontaneous fission product of uranium.[159] The Noddacks (discoverers of rhenium) claimed to have discovered element 43 in 1925 as well and named it masurium (after Masuria), but their claims were disproven by Kuroda, who calculated that there cannot have been enough technetium in their samples to have enabled a true detection.[160] |
87 | Francium | 1939 | M. Perey | Perey discovered it as a decay product of 227Ac.[161] Francium was the last element to be discovered in nature, rather than synthesized in the lab, although four of the "synthetic" elements that were discovered later (plutonium, neptunium, astatine, and promethium) were eventually found in trace amounts in nature as well.[162] Before Perey, it is likely that Stefan Meyer, Viktor F. Hess, and Friedrich Paneth had observed the decay of 227Ac to 223Fr in Vienna in 1914, but they could not follow up and secure their work because of the outbreak of World War I.[162] | ||
93 | Neptunium | 1940 | E.M. McMillan and H. Abelson | Obtained by irradiating uranium with neutrons, it was the first transuranium element discovered.[163] Natural traces were found in Belgian Congo pitchblende by D. F. Peppard et al. in 1952.[164] | ||
85 | Astatine | 1940 | R. Corson, R. MacKenzie and E. Segrè | Obtained by bombarding bismuth with alpha particles.[165] In 1943, Berta Karlik and Traude Bernert found it in nature; due to World War II, they were initially unaware of Corson et al.'s results.[166] Horia Hulubei and Yvette Cauchois had previously claimed its discovery as a natural radioelement from 1936, naming it dor: they likely did have the isotope 218At, and probably did have enough sensitivity to distinguish its spectral lines. But they could not chemically identify their discovery, and their work was doubted because of an earlier false claim by Hulubei to having discovered element 87.[167][168] | ||
94 | Plutonium | 1941 | Glenn T. Seaborg, Arthur C. Wahl, W. Kennedy and E.M. McMillan | Prepared by bombardment of uranium with deuterons.[169] Seaborg and Morris L. Perlman then found it as traces in natural Canadian pitchblende in 1941–1942, though this work was kept secret until 1948.[170] | ||
96 | Curium | 1944 | Glenn T. Seaborg, Ralph A. James and Albert Ghiorso | Prepared by bombarding plutonium with alpha particles during the Manhattan Project[171] | ||
95 | Americium | 1944 | G. T. Seaborg, R. A. James, O. Morgan and A. Ghiorso | Prepared by irradiating plutonium with neutrons during the Manhattan Project.[172] | ||
61 | Promethium | 1945 | Charles D. Coryell, Jacob A. Marinsky, and Lawrence E. Glendenin | 1945 | Charles D. Coryell, Jacob A. Marinsky, and Lawrence E. Glendenin[173][174] | It was probably first prepared at the Ohio State University in 1942 by bombarding neodymium and praseodymium with neutrons, but separation of the element could not be carried out. Isolation was performed under the Manhattan Project in 1945.[175] Found on Earth in trace quantities by Olavi Erämetsä in 1965; so far, promethium is the most recent element to have been found on Earth.[176] |
97 | Berkelium | 1949 | G. Thompson, A. Ghiorso and G. T. Seaborg (University of California, Berkeley) | Created by bombardment of americium with alpha particles.[177] | ||
98 | Californium | 1950 | S. G. Thompson, K. Street, Jr., A. Ghiorso and G. T. Seaborg (University of California, Berkeley) | Bombardment of curium with alpha particles.[178] | ||
99 | Einsteinium | 1952 | A. Ghiorso et al. (Argonne Laboratory, Los Alamos Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley) | 1952 | Formed in the first thermonuclear explosion in November 1952, by irradiation of uranium with neutrons; kept secret for several years.[179] | |
100 | Fermium | 1953 | A. Ghiorso et al. (Argonne Laboratory, Los Alamos Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley) | Formed in the first thermonuclear explosion in November 1952, by irradiation of uranium with neutrons; first identified in early 1953; kept secret for several years.[180] | ||
101 | Mendelevium | 1955 | A. Ghiorso, G. Harvey, G. R. Choppin, S. G. Thompson and G. T. Seaborg (Berkeley Radiation Laboratory) | Prepared by bombardment of einsteinium with helium.[181] | ||
103 | Lawrencium | 1961 | A. Ghiorso, T. Sikkeland, E. Larsh and M. Latimer (Berkeley Radiation Laboratory) | First prepared by bombardment of californium with boron atoms.[182] | ||
102 | Nobelium | 1966 | E. D. Donets, V. A. Shchegolev and V. A. Ermakov (JINR in Dubna) | First prepared by bombardment of uranium with neon atoms[183] | ||
104 | Rutherfordium | 1969 | A. Ghiorso et al. (Berkeley Radiation Laboratory) and I. Zvara et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of californium with carbon atoms by Albert Ghiorso's team and by bombardment of plutonium with neon atoms by Zvara's team.[184] | ||
105 | Dubnium | 1970 | A. Ghiorso et al. (Berkeley Radiation Laboratory) and V. A. Druin et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of californium with nitrogen atoms by Ghiorso's team and by bombardment of americium with neon atoms by Druin's team.[185] | ||
106 | Seaborgium | 1974 | A. Ghiorso et al. (Berkeley Radiation Laboratory) | Prepared by bombardment of californium with oxygen atoms.[186] | ||
107 | Bohrium | 1981 | G.Münzenberg et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Obtained by bombarding bismuth with chromium.[187] | ||
109 | Meitnerium | 1982 | G. Münzenberg, P. Armbruster et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Prepared by bombardment of bismuth with iron atoms.[188] | ||
108 | Hassium | 1984 | G. Münzenberg, P. Armbruster et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Prepared by bombardment of lead with iron atoms[189] | ||
110 | Darmstadtium | 1994 | S. Hofmann et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Prepared by bombardment of lead with nickel[190] | ||
111 | Roentgenium | 1994 | S. Hofmann et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Prepared by bombardment of bismuth with nickel[191] | ||
112 | Copernicium | 1996 | S. Hofmann et al. (GSI in Darmstadt) | Prepared by bombardment of lead with zinc.[192][193] | ||
114 | Flerovium | 1999 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of plutonium with calcium. It may have already been found at Dubna in 1998, but that result has not been confirmed.[194] | ||
116 | Livermorium | 2000 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of curium with calcium[195] | ||
118 | Oganesson | 2002 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of californium with calcium[196] | ||
115 | Moscovium | 2003 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of americium with calcium[197] | ||
113 | Nihonium | 2003–2004 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) and K. Morita et al. (RIKEN in Wako, Japan) | Prepared by decay of moscovium by Oganessian's team[197] and bombardment of bismuth with zinc by Morita's team.[198] Both teams began their experiments in 2003; Oganessian's team detected its first atom in 2003, but Morita's only in 2004. However, both teams published in 2004. | ||
117 | Tennessine | 2009 | Y. Oganessian et al. (JINR in Dubna) | Prepared by bombardment of berkelium with calcium[199] |