Concept preview

What you will be able to do

1. 01State the rules for writing element symbols
2. 02Recall the symbols that come from Latin names
3. 03Locate metals and nonmetals on the periodic table

Learning chemistry starts with learning its language, and the language begins with the names and symbols of the elements. Chemistry has two great branches: organic chemistry, the study of carbon compounds, and inorganic chemistry, the study of the elements and 'non-organic' compounds. Inorganic nomenclature is the system for naming elements and inorganic compounds — a set of rules so consistent that, once learned, you can name a compound you have never seen and write the formula of a name you have never heard.