what's the symbol origin for silicon? why did they use si for the symbol why not something else?
2006-10-08 12:32:54 · 3 answers · asked by =) 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
From it's name..1st two letters
Only elements that had old latin names have strange symbols
S was already used for sulfur
2006-10-08 13:54:18 · answer #1 · answered by The Cheminator 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Sulfur was known to the ancients and already had the formula S so silicon got Si from its name. Sn is tin.(stantium) Sc is scandium. Sodium uses its Latin name natrium for its symbol, Na.
2006-10-08 21:27:29 · answer #2 · answered by science teacher 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The symbolis Si. They couldn't have used S because that was already in use for sulphur. I don't know what else you think they should have used.
2006-10-12 16:31:43 · answer #3 · answered by yupchagee 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋