Element Symbols & Etymology

30 questions · Answers revealed below each question · Print this set

1.Which element is named after Niels Bohr, who modeled the atom with electron shells?
- A. Fermium
- B. Meitnerium
- C. Bohrium
- D. Rutherfordium
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Bohrium
Did you know? Bohrium (Bh) honors Danish physicist Niels Bohr.
2.Which element is simply named after the state of California?
- A. Fermium
- B. Americium
- C. Berkelium
- D. Californium
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Californium
Did you know? Californium (Cf) honors the state of California.
3.Which element's symbol Cu comes from the Latin "cuprum"?
- A. Chromium
- B. Copper
- C. Cadmium
- D. Cobalt
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Copper
Did you know? Copper's Cu comes from cuprum, Latin for the copper isle of Cyprus.
4.Which halogen is named "iodes", violet, for the color of its vapor?
- A. Bromine
- B. Astatine
- C. Chlorine
- D. Iodine
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Iodine
Did you know? Iodine is named for the violet cloud its heated vapor makes.
5.Which element is named after Thor, the Norse god of thunder?
- A. Rhenium
- B. Titanium
- C. Vanadium
- D. Thorium
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Thorium
Did you know? Thorium honors Thor, the thunder god, in its naming by Berzelius.
6.Which actinide is named after Berkeley, California, home of its discoverers?
- A. Californium
- B. Berkelium
- C. Lawrencium
- D. Americium
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Berkelium
Did you know? Berkelium honors Berkeley, where it was first made in 1949.
7.Which element's symbol W comes from its German ore name, wolfram?
- A. Tellurium
- B. Tungsten
- C. Antimony
- D. Thallium
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Tungsten
Did you know? Tungsten keeps the W of wolfram, the "wolf's froth" ore of German miners.
8.Which noble gas is named "kryptos", the hidden one?
- A. Argon
- B. Xenon
- C. Krypton
- D. Radon
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Krypton
Did you know? Krypton means "hidden" in Greek, true to how hard it was to find.
9.Which element is named after Albert Einstein?
- A. Fermium
- B. Einsteinium
- C. Curium
- D. Mendelevium
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Einsteinium
Did you know? Einsteinium (Es) honors the physicist Albert Einstein.
10.Which noble gas takes its Greek name meaning "lazy", for refusing to react?
- A. Neon
- B. Argon
- C. Helium
- D. Krypton
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Argon
Did you know? Argon comes from "argos", lazy, for its utter refusal to combine.
11.Which element's symbol Pb comes from the Latin "plumbum", the metal of Roman water pipes?
- A. Tin
- B. Lead
- C. Platinum
- D. Palladium
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Lead
Did you know? Lead's Pb, from plumbum, is why pipe workers are called plumbers.
12.Which element is named after Selene, the Greek moon goddess, as a "sister" of tellurium?
- A. Helium
- B. Cerium
- C. Selenium
- D. Tellurium
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Selenium
Did you know? Selenium honors Selene, the moon, because tellurium was already named for Earth.
13.Which light metal is named after the whole Scandinavian peninsula?
- A. Ruthenium
- B. Gallium
- C. Scandium
- D. Germanium
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Scandium
Did you know? Scandium (1879) is named for Scandinavia, predicted by Mendeleev as ekaboron.
14.Which element honors the creator of the periodic table, Dmitri Mendeleev?
- A. Oganesson
- B. Nobelium
- C. Curium
- D. Mendelevium
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Mendelevium
Did you know? Mendelevium (Md) was named in honor of Dmitri Mendeleev.
15.Which metalloid is named after Germany, its discoverer's homeland?
- A. Gallium
- B. Germanium
- C. Indium
- D. Hassium
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Germanium
Did you know? Germanium (1886) is named for Germany, filling Mendeleev's predicted ekasilicon slot.
16.Which metal is named after Tantalus, the condemned king of Greek myth?
- A. Promethium
- B. Tantalum
- C. Niobium
- D. Titanium
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Tantalum
Did you know? Tantalum is named for Tantalus, punished with unreachable water and fruit.
17.Which element is named after Poland, the homeland of Marie Curie?
- A. Rhenium
- B. Francium
- C. Ruthenium
- D. Polonium
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Polonium
Did you know? Polonium honors Poland, a statement of Curie's pride in her occupied homeland.
18.Which element's name comes from the Greek word for the sun, where its spectrum was first spotted?
- A. Tellurium
- B. Helium
- C. Selenium
- D. Cerium
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Helium
Did you know? Helium comes from "helios" (sun) after its 1868 detection in the solar spectrum.
19.Which element is named after the Americas, mirroring its lanthanide twin europium?
- A. Francium
- B. Berkelium
- C. Californium
- D. Americium
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Americium
Did you know? Americium honors the Americas, just as europium honors Europe.
20.Which element takes its name from Alfred Nobel, the founder of the Nobel Prizes?
- A. Fermium
- B. Nobelium
- C. Curium
- D. Bohrium
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Nobelium
Did you know? Nobelium (No) honors Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.
21.The element yttrium is named after a village in which country?
- A. Finland
- B. Sweden
- C. Denmark
- D. Norway
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Sweden
Did you know? Yttrium honors Ytterby, a village on Sweden's largest island.
22.Which element is named after the physicist Ernest Rutherford?
- A. Meitnerium
- B. Rutherfordium
- C. Bohrium
- D. Seaborgium
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Rutherfordium
Did you know? Rutherfordium (Rf) honors Ernest Rutherford, discoverer of the atomic nucleus.
23.Which blue metal is named after "kobolds", the goblins German miners blamed for its ore?
- A. Nickel
- B. Copper
- C. Cobalt
- D. Cadmium
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Cobalt
Did you know? Cobalt comes from "kobold", the mischievous spirit blamed for deceptive silver ore.
24.Which element is named after Marie and Pierre Curie?
- A. Curium
- B. Radium
- C. Polonium
- D. Nobelium
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Curium
Did you know? Curium (Cm) honors both Curies for their work on radioactivity.
25.Which element is named after the astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus?
- A. Copernicium
- B. Meitnerium
- C. Nobelium
- D. Bohrium
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Copernicium
Did you know? Copernicium (Cg) honors the sun-centered astronomer Copernicus.
26.Which element takes its name from the fire-stealing Titan Prometheus?
- A. Tantalum
- B. Titanium
- C. Promethium
- D. Niobium
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Promethium
Did you know? Promethium (Pm) is named for Prometheus, the fire-bringer of Greek myth.
27.Which light structural metal is named after the Titans of Greek mythology?
- A. Titanium
- B. Tantalum
- C. Vanadium
- D. Thorium
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Titanium
Did you know? Titanium is named after the Titans, the elder gods of Greek myth.
28.Which element is named after Niobe, daughter of Tantalus in Greek myth?
- A. Zirconium
- B. Niobium
- C. Samarium
- D. Tantalum
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Niobium
Did you know? Niobium is named for Niobe, the weeping daughter of Tantalus.
29.Which metal is named for the Latin "Gallia" for France, with a punning nod to the rooster?
- A. Francium
- B. Gallium
- C. Germanium
- D. Scandium
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Gallium
Did you know? Gallium honors Gallia (France); its finder Lecoq also punned on "gallus", the rooster.
30.Which element's symbol Sn comes from the Latin "stannum"?
- A. Selenium
- B. Tin
- C. Antimony
- D. Strontium
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Tin
Did you know? Tin's Sn comes from stannum, the Latin root of "stannous".

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