Why do some symbols of elements start with different letters?

Answer 1

Because English isn't the only language out there. Potassium has symbol K, but K does not necessarily come from the English term for Potassium.

Some other elements were renamed after they were assigned a symbol, but the symbol wasn't changed along with the name.

Answer 2

Latin does, indeed, rear its' ugly head on the Periodic Table. Most are of Latin origin.

However, some are Greek, some the language of the person(s) who found the element.

Some, such as Tungsten, have more interesting stories. Tungsten was first called Wolfram (thus the symbol W) named after minerals with which it is found, a dispute followed who named it first (thus naming rights). Eventually it was named Tungsten after one of its' characteristics, but kept the Wolfram symbol.

Answer 3

Well the example that comes to mind is gold: Au. this is because the Latin word for gold is something like "aura" and silver, Ag, is something like "argent" in Latin. It depends on what the word roots are.

Answer 4

Because some of symbols are from the latin version of the word. like the latin word for gold,Au, is Aurum. The latin word for potassium, K, is Kalium.

Answer 5

Sometimes the Latin name or technical name is different than the common name, for example, silver is AG for Argentum

Answer 6

because some of them are named after their latin names (Iron (Fe) is named after ferrous or ferric depending on the charge)

Answer 7

gold is Au,potassium is K,