Question

Why do we use s for sulphur na for sodium and si for silicon?

Answer 1

These are the symbols which are given to elements.

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Answer 2

Writing the entire name of an element everytime we need to talk about it, is too hard and takes time.

To overcome this problem, Symbols for Every element has been introduced.

Symbol is the short hand notation of an Element.

Sulphur symbol is S, Hence We can use S everytime we mean Sulphur in chemistry.

Sulphur dioxide is written as SO2 ( S for Sulphur, O2 for dioxide)

Sodium's Latin name is Natrium. The first two letters of its Latin name are adopted as its symbol Na

NaCl - Sodium chloride

Sillicon element has a symbol Si. The first two letters of its name are adopted as it's symbol.

SiCl4 - Silicon tetra chloride