Elements known in antiquity

The origins of the names of antique and prehistoric elements cannot be derived. Nine elements were known in ancient time, see Table 3.10. 

The discovery of these elements caimot be mapped out as some of them have been known since prehistoric time. Perhaps carbon was the first element to be discovered and used. The discovery of gold and copper, the earliest known metals, dates from 5000 Bc. Gold is available uncombined in nature and copper can easily be prepared by reduction of its oxide with charcoal. Mercury was the last of the metals known in antiquity. Aristotle mentions the fluid silver about 300 bc. 

The Old Testament in the Bible gives much information about metals, minerals and other materials used in ancient times. Of the nine elements mentioned in Table 3.10, all except mercury are described in the Bible. 

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I 3 The Elements - Origin, Occurrence, Discovery And Names Table 3.10 Elements known in antiquity... 

Already known in antiquity, as it occurs naturally in its elemental form. 

The elements known from antiquity (gold, silver, copper, iron, mercury, lead, tin, and sulfur) have different names in different languages. 

Arsenic compounds were known in antiquity, and the name is derived from the Greek arsenikon and the Latin arsenicum. Elemental arsenic may have been discovered by Albertus Magnus in 1250, but this is unclear. In was Johann Schroeder in 1649 who published two methods for producing arsenic, after isolating elemental arsenic. Arsenic was historically used in medicines and was developed as a treatment for syphilis. Its high level of toxicity led to its use as an insecticide. Since arsenic is a semimetallic element, it has properties that make it useful for modern electronics such as transistors. 

Like arsenic, antimony compounds were known in antiquity, but it was not until around 1450 that they were described by Johann Tholden. The name comes from two Greek words, anti ( against or not ) and monos, meaning single or solitary, so antimony is not alone. Antimony s chemical symbol comes from its Latin name, stibium. Nicolas Lemery (1645-1715) was the first person to scientifically study antimony and its compounds he published his work in 1707. Early use of antimony compounds was as a pigment in 1855, they were used as a component in safety matches. Modern uses include as a coloring for glass and as a trace element in electronics and plastics. Antimony is toxic, so it must be carefully used. 

Many less common elements (e.g. Ga and Ge) are incorporated to some extent into the crystal structures of major minerals, and thus may be rather thinly spread over the crust. Others are concentrated by forming individual minerals. Native gold and cinnabar (HgS) were known in antiquity although Au and Hg are very rare elements. On the other hand, the less rare Ga and Ge were not discovered until the late 19th century. 

Discovery Limestone and calcite were known in antiquity. The element calcium was prepared in 1808 by H. Davy in London. 

Discovery Cinnabar, mercury sulfide, was used as a red pigment in ancient civilizations. Elemental mercury was known in antiquity. 

Known from antiquity, assigned as an element in 1789 by Antoine-Laurent de Lavoisier (1743-1794). 

The transition metals iron and copper have been known since antiquity and have played an important role in the development of civilization. Iron, the main constituent of steel, is still important as a structural material. Worldwide production of steel amounts to some 800 million tons per year. In newer technologies, other transition elements are useful. For example, the strong, lightweight metal titanium is a major component in modern jet aircraft. Transition metals are also used as heterogeneous catalysts in automobile catalytic converters and in the industrial synthesis of essential chemicals such as sulfuric acid, nitric acid, and ammonia. 

Phosphorus has many allotropes. The most common of these is white phosphorus, which exists in two modifications, a-P4 (cubic) and p-P4 (hexagonal). Condensation of phosphorus from the gas or liquid phases (both of which contain tetrahedral P4 molecules) gives primarily the a form, which slowly converts to the P form at temperatures above —76.9°C. During slow air oxidation, a-P4 emits a yellow-green light, an example of phosphorescence that has been known since antiquity (and is the source of the name of this element) to slow such oxidation, white phosphorus is commonly stored under water. White phosphorus was once used in matches however, its extremely high toxicity has led to its replacement by other materials, especially P4S3 and red phosphorus, which are much less toxic. 

Sulfur itself has been known since antiquity and, because of its associations with volcanic eruptions, was referred to in the past as brimstone (burning stone). In the third century, Chinese alchemists used a mixture of sulfur with saltpetre (KN03) as a primitive gunpowder. Elemental sulfur is widely distributed in nature and also as compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, sulfur dioxide, sulfates, e.g. those of calcium and magnesium, and sulfide ores. 

The chapter is devoted to seven metals of antiquity gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and mercury—the magnificent seven of metals that played a tremendous role both in the development of civilization and in various schools of natural philosophy. We shall tell you about sulphur, which was widely used long before our time, and about carbon. It may well be that carbon is the oldest chemical element known to mankind. Therefore, we shall begin the history of chemical elements with carbon. 

Generally speaking, there is every ground to classify silicon as an element of antiquity. Its compounds were known and used from time immemorial (suffice it to mention silicon tools of primitive man). We classified carbon as an element of antiquity since it was known in a free state from very remote times. However, that carbon is a chemical element became clear only two hundred years ago. Glass, in the long run, is also a silicon material. However, the date of silicon discovery is the date of its preparation in a free state since such is the established practice in the history of science. 

Table 4 presents the dates of discovery and the names of discoverers for all chemical elements with the exception of the elements that became known in the antiquity and middle ages. The discoverers of almost ninety elements can be named. About fifty scientists were directly involved in the discoveries of stable natural elements, nine scientists discovered natural radioactive elements (though about 25 scientists took part in the discoveries of radioelements entering into radioactive families). 

We can classify chemical elements into two groups according to tbe methods of their discovery elements found in nature, and synthesized elements. We shall not consider those elements in the first group to which the concept of discovery is inapplicable, that is, those known from antiquity or the middle ages. 

There have been a number of major episodes in the history of chemistry when half a dozen or so elements were discovered almost at once, or within a period of a few years. Of course, some elements, such as iron, copper, gold, and other metak, have been known since antiquity. In fact, historians and archeologists refer to certain epochs in human history as the Iron Age or the Copper Age. The alchemists added several more elements to the list, including sulfur, mercury, and phosphorus. In relatively modem times, the discovery of electricity enabled chemists to isolate many of the more reactive elements that, imUke copper and iron, could not be obtained by heating their ores with carbon. The English chemist Humphry Davy seized upon the use of electricity or, more specifically, electrolysis to isolate as many as 10 elements, including calcium, barium, magnesium, sodium, and chlorine. 

The minerals jargon, hyacinth, and jacinth are also varieties of zircon, and they have been known since antiquity and are mentioned in the Bible in several places. The existence of a new element within these minerals was not suspected until an analysis of a zircon crystal from Ceylon (i.e., Sri Lanka) conducted by Martin Heinrich Klaproth in Berlin (Germany) in 1789. Klaproth announced the discovery of an unknown earth metal, which he... 

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