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The periodic table: how elements get their names

Most people could name many of the elements, but how many of us know how they got those names?

Each of the 115 known chemical elements was discovered over the last few thousand years, from before recorded history began to the nuclear laboratories of the 21st century.

Their chosen names were influenced by an ever changing mix of language, culture and our understanding of chemistry.

So how did they get these names? And why do they end in -ium?...

Read entire article at BBC News