Who discovered three chemical elements: cerium, thorium and selenium, and devised the modern method by which one or two letters are used to symbolise elements?

Question

Question

This question was previously asked in

SSC CGL 2022 Tier-I Official Paper (Held On : 05 Dec 2022 Shift 3)

Answer 1

The correct answer is Jacob Berzelius.Key Points

Jacob Berzelius discovered three chemical elements: cerium, thorium and selenium, and devised the modern method by which one or two letters are used to symbolise elements.
In 1813, J.J. Berzelius proposed that chemical symbols should be based on the Latin names of the elements.
He is among the founders of modern Chemistry and is known for his work on atomic weight which led to several developments in chemistry.
Chemical symbols are the abbreviations used for chemical elements.
It usually consists of one or two letters from the Latin alphabet.
For example, the chemical symbol of lead is Pb which is derived from plumbum in Latin.

Additional Information

John Dalton
- He was an English physicist and chemist.
- He is known for introducing atomic theory into chemistry.
- He is a pioneer in research into colour blindness and his theory is also known as Daltonism after his name.
Phosphorus is a chemical element with an atomic number 15.
- It was discovered by Hennig Brand in 1669.
- Phosphorus has the smell of garlic.
- Phosphorus is never found as a free element on earth due to its high reactivity.
In 1915, The Bohr model of the atom was proposed by Neil Bohr.
- Bohr's model explains that electrons move in fixed orbitals.
- Bohr also explained that each orbit has a fixed energy level Bohr's model.
- Electrons revolve around the nucleus in a definite circular path called orbits in an atom.
- Each orbit has fixed energy and these orbits are called orbital shells.
- The electrons move from a lower to a higher energy level by gaining the required energy and an electron moves from a higher to a lower energy level by losing energy in an atom.