element symbol

See also chemical formula. A chemical symbol is an abbreviation or short representation of the name of a chemical element, generally assigned in relation to its Latin name. Natural elements all have symbols of one or two letters; some man-made elements have temporary symbols of three letters.Chemical s ymbols are listed in the periodic table and are used as shorthand and in chemical equations, e.g.,2H2 + O2 → 2H2O Because chemical symbols are often derived from the Latin or Greek name of the element, they may not bear much similarity to the common English name, e.g., Na for sodium (Latin natrium) and Au for gold (Latin aurum).
See more at Wikipedia.org...

The periodic table of the chemical elements is a tabular method of displaying the chemical elements. Although precursors to this table exist, its invention is generally credited to Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev in 1869. Mendeleev intended the table to illustrate recurring ("periodic") trends in the properties of the elements. The layout of the table has been refined and extended over time, as new elements have been discovered, and new theoretical models have been developed to explain chemical behavior.
See more at Wikipedia.org...

An international abbreviation for element names, usually consisting of the first one or two distinctive letters in element name. Some symbols are abbreviations for ancient names.