this post was submitted on 19 Jun 2025
19 points (91.3% liked)

Science

4686 readers
92 users here now

General discussions about "science" itself

Be sure to also check out these other Fediverse science communities:

https://lemmy.ml/c/science

https://beehaw.org/c/science

founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
Sal@mander.xyz
fossilesque@mander.xyz
19
How to speak to a vaccine sceptic: research reveals what works (www.nature.com)
submitted 4 days ago by cm0002@lemmy.world to c/science@mander.xyz
11 comments fedilink hide all child comments
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (2 children)

But all the other elements are -iums as well, so aluminium makes more sense.

Regards someone from neither country

[–] Geodad@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

But all the other elements are -iums

Hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus...

There are many elements that don't end in - ium. The rule is that whoever discovers the element gets to name it.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 3 points 4 days ago

collapsed inline media

We have a draw.

The first name proposed for the metal to be isolated from alum was alumium, which Davy suggested in an 1808 article on his electrochemical research, published in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society.

[–] moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub 2 points 4 days ago (1 children)

All of them? Are you sure?

On an unrelated note, apparently the Eagles “Their Greatest Hits” album was certified 38x Platinium.

[–] Dasus@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Oh no, not all of them. I'm just too lazy to write a more accurate sentence.

-ium is a commonly used Latin suffix for elements. The name for platin cones from spanish "platina", 'little silver'.

[–] moobythegoldensock@infosec.pub 3 points 3 days ago

There’s also molybdenum, lanthanum, and tantalum. “ium” is not a hard and fast rule.