Sodium’s Latin name, ‘natrium’, derives from the Greek ‘nítron’ (a name for sodium carbonate). After the periodic table of rejected element names a few days ago, questions about these elements came up, so here’s a look at their confusing symbols, along with the reasons behind them. Most of the chemical symbols for elements in the periodic table make perfect sense there are a small selection, however, that seem to bear no relation to their element’s name.
