Trivial name

In chemistry, a trivial name is a nonsystematic name for a chemical substance. That is, the name is not recognized according to the rules of any formal system of chemical nomenclature such as IUPAC inorganic or IUPAC organic nomenclature. A trivial name is not a formal name and is usually a common name.BasketaneCubaneDodecahedraneHousaneOlympicenePrismaneTetrahedrane In chemistry, a trivial name is a nonsystematic name for a chemical substance. That is, the name is not recognized according to the rules of any formal system of chemical nomenclature such as IUPAC inorganic or IUPAC organic nomenclature. A trivial name is not a formal name and is usually a common name. Generally, trivial names are not useful in describing the essential properties of the thing being named. Properties such as the molecular structure of a chemical compound are not indicated. And, in some cases, trivial names can be ambiguous or will carry different meanings in different industries or in different geographic regions. (For example, a trivial name such as white metal can mean various things.) On the other hand, systematic names can be so convoluted and difficult to parse that their trivial names are preferred. As a result, a limited number of trivial chemical names are retained names, an accepted part of the nomenclature. Trivial names often arise in the common language; they may come from historic usages in, for example, alchemy. Many trivial names pre-date the institution of formal naming conventions. Names can be based on a property of the chemical, including appearance (color, taste or smell), consistency, and crystal structure; a place where it was found or where the discoverer comes from; the name of a scientist; a mythological figure; an astronomical body; the shape of the molecule; and even fictional figures. All elements that have been isolated have trivial names. In scientific documents, international treaties, patents and legal definitions, names for chemicals are needed thatidentify them unambiguously. This need is satisfied by systematic names. One such system, established by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), was established in 1950. Other systems have been developed by the American Chemical Society, the International Organization for Standardization, and the World Health Organization. However, chemists still use many names that are not systematic because they are traditional or because they are more convenient than the systematic names. These are called trivial names. The word 'trivial', often used in a pejorative sense, was intended to mean 'commonplace'. In addition to trivial names, chemists have constructed semi-trivial names by appending a standard symbol to a trivial stem. Some trivial and semi-trivial names are so widely used that they have been officially adopted by IUPAC; these are known as retained names. Traditional names of elements are trivial, some originating in alchemy. IUPAC has accepted these names, but has also defined systematic names of elements that have not yet been prepared. It has adopted a procedure by which the scientists who are credited with preparing an element can propose a new name. Once the IUPAC has accepted such a (trivial) name, it replaces the systematic name. Nine elements were known by the Middle Ages – gold, silver, tin, mercury, copper, lead, iron, sulfur, and carbon. Mercury was named after the planet, but its symbol was derived from the Latin hydrargyrum, which itself comes from the greek υδράργυρος, meaning liquid silver; mercury is also known as quicksilver in English. The symbols for the other eight are derived from their Latin names. Systematic nomenclature began after Louis-Bernard Guyton de Morveau stated the need for “a constant method of denomination, which helps the intelligence and relieves the memory”. The resulting system was popularized by Antoine Lavoisier's publication of Méthode de nomenclature chimique (Method of Chemical Nomenclature) in 1787. Lavoisier proposed that elements be named after their properties. For the next 125 years, most chemists followed this suggestion, using Greek and Latin roots to compose the names; for example, hydrogen ('water-producing'), oxygen ('acid-producing'), nitrogen ('soda-producing'), bromine ('stink'), and argon ('no reaction') were based on Greek roots, while the names of iodine and chlorine were derived from the Greek words for their characteristic colors. Indium, rubidium, and thallium were similarly named for the colors of particular lines in their emission spectra. Iridium, which forms compounds of many different colors, takes its name from iris, the Latin for 'rainbow'. The noble gases have all been named for their origin or properties. Helium comes from the Greek helios, meaning 'sun' because it was first detected as a line in the spectrum of the sun (it is not known why the suffix -ium, which is used for metals, was chosen). The other noble gases are neon ('new'), argon ('slow, lazy'), krypton ('hidden'), xenon ('stranger'), and radon ('from radium'). Many more elements have been given names that have little or nothing to do with their properties. Elements have been named for celestial bodies (helium, selenium, tellurium, for the sun, moon, and earth; cerium and palladium for Ceres and Pallas, two asteroids). They have been named for mythological figures, including Titans in general (titanium) and Prometheus in particular (promethium); Roman and Greek gods (uranium, neptunium, and plutonium) and their descendants (tantalum for Tantalus, a son of Zeus, and niobium for Niobe, a daughter of Tantalus); and Norse deities (vanadium for the goddess Vanadis and thorium for the god Thor).