- The lightest or most abundant element beginning with
each letter has a one-letter abbreviation.
Examples: H hydrogen
C Carbon N nitrogen
O oxygen S sulfur
- Other elements beginning with the same letter have a
two-letter abbreviation, made by adding the first letter
that makes their name distinctive from other elements.
For example:
Ca calcium Cl chlorine
Cd cadmium Cr chromium
Co cobalt
Ce cerium Cs cesium
- The first letter of any symbol is capitalized;
the second letter of any symbol is in lower case.
- Abbreviations for elements are based on their English names,
with these exceptions:
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