The Naming of the Elements: An Exercise in Chemical lrenics A prohlem faced in the teaching of chemistry is the discrepancy between the names and symbols of many of the elements, often having no relation to one another. This impasse, it would seem, stems in large measure from the dichotomous approach that has been applied to the problem. Either one name or symbol pmposed for a n element must he right, and hence, all other alternatives must be wrong. Let us examine the greater possibilities offered when the problem is approached in an air of compromise, taking the following four examples.
Element 19, K Let us propose for this element the compromise name of "kotassium" to make the name agree with the existing symbol. An added benefit of so renaming element 19is that gardeners who fertilize their gardens with Xotash" will no longer suffer under the suspicion of smoking marijuana.
Element 74, W
To avoid the outbreak of trans-Baltic war on the proper naming of element 74, in view of the excessive national pride invested in the names wolfram and tungsten, we propose the name "wungsten" as a compromise.
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