Element \El"e*ment\, n. [F. ['e]l['e]ment, L. elementum.]
 
          1. One of the simplest or essential parts or principles
         of
      which anything consists, or upon which the
         constitution or
      fundamental powers of anything are
         based.
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   2. One of the ultimate,
         undecomposable constituents of any
      kind of matter.
         Specifically: (Chem.) A substance which
      cannot be
         decomposed into different kinds of matter by any
     
         means at present employed; as, the elements of water are
  
            oxygen and hydrogen.
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   Note:
         The elements are naturally classified in several
         families or groups, as the group of the alkaline
         elements, the halogen group, and the like. They are
         roughly divided into two great classes, the metals, as
         sodium, calcium, etc., which form basic compounds, and
         the nonmetals or metalloids, as oxygen, sulphur,
         chlorine, which form acid compounds; but the
         distinction is only relative, and some, as arsenic,
         tin, aluminium, etc., form both acid and basic
         compounds. The essential fact regarding every element
         is its relative atomic number, which is equal to the
         number of protons in the nucleus, and also equal to the
         number of electrons in orbitals around the nucleus when
         the atom is neutral. When the elements are tabulated in
         the order of their ascending atomic numbers, the
         arrangement constitutes the series of the Periodic law
         of Mendelejeff. See Periodic law, under Periodic.
         This Periodic law enables us to predict the qualities
         of unknown elements. The number of elements known in
         1890 were about seventy-five, but at that time the gaps
         in the Periodic law indicated the possibility of many
         more. All of the elements up to atomic number 100 have
         now been observed though some are radioactive and very
         unstable, and in some cases cannot be accumulated in
         quantity sufficient to actually see by eye. The
         properties predicted by the periodic law wre close to
         the observed properties in many cases. Additional
         unstable elements of atomic number over 100 are
         observed from time to time, prepared in cyclotrons,
         particle acclerators, or nuclear reactors, and some of
         their properties are measurable by careful observation
         of microscopic quantities, as few as several atoms. For
         such unstable elements, the properties are now
         predicted primarily by calculations based on quantum
         mechanics. Such theories suggest that there may be an
         "island" of relative stability of elements of atomic
         number over 120, but this has yet to be confirmed by
         experiment.
         Many of the elements with which we are familiar, as
         hydrogen, carbon, iron, gold, etc., have been
         recognized, by means of spectrum analysis, in the sun
         and the fixed stars. The chemical elements are now
         known not be simple bodies, but only combinations of
         subatomic particles such as protons, neutrons, and
         electrons; ahd protons and neutrons are now believed to
         be themselves combinations of quarks, particles which
         are not observed singly, but only in combinations.
         In formulas, the elements are designated by
         abbreviations of their names in Latin or New Latin,
         given in the table below. The atomic weights given in
         the table below are the

   chemical atomic
         weights, in
         some cases being the weighted
      average of the atomic
         weights of individual isotopes, each
      having a
         different atomic weight. The atomic weight of the
     
         individual isotopes are called the physical atomic
     
         weights. In those few cases where there is only one stable

              isotope of an element, the chemical and physical
         atomic
      weights are the same. The mass-spectrometric
         atomic
      weights are those used for careful
         mass-spectrometric
      measurements. For more details
         about individual elements,
      see the element names in
         the vocabulary The Elements
     
         ----------------------------------------------------------

              Name |Sym-| Atomic Weight |
      |bol | O=16 | H=1 |
         C=12.000
     
         ----------------------------------------------------------

              Aluminum | Al | 27.1 | 26.9 |
      Antimony (Stibium)
         | Sb | 120 | 119.1 |
      Argon | A | 39.9 | 39.6 |
     
         Arsenic | As | 75 | 74.4 |
      Astatine | At |
     
         Barium | Ba | 137.4 | 136.4 |
      Beryllium | Be |
     
         Bismuth | Bi | 208.5 | 206.9 |
      Boron | B | 11 | 10.9
         |
      Bromine | Br | 79.96 | 79.36|
      Cadmium | Cd |
         112.4 | 111.6 |
      Cesium (Caesium) | Cs | 133 | 132 |

              Calcium | Ca | 40 | 39.7 |
      Carbon | C | 12 |
         11.91| 12.000
      Cerium | Ce | 140 | 139 |
     
         Chlorine | Cl | 35.45 | 35.18|
      Chromium | Cr | 52.1 |
         51.7 |
      Cobalt | Co |
      Columbium (see
         Beryllium)
     
         Copper | Cu |
      (Cuprum)
     
         Erbium | Er |
      Europium | Eu |
      Einsteinium | Es
         |
      Fermium | Fe |
      Fluorine | F |
     
         Gadolinium | Gd |
      Gallium | Ga |
      Germanium |
         Ge |
      Glucinum (now Beryllium)
      Gold
         (Aurum) |
         Au |
      Helium | He |
      Hydrogen | H |
     
         Indium | In |
      Iodine | I |
      Iridium | Ir |
   
           Iron | Fe |
      (Ferrum)
      Krypton | Kr |
     
         Lanthanum | La |
      Lead | Pb |
      (Plumbum)
     
         Lithium | Li |
      Magnesium | Mg |
      Manganese | Mn
         |
      Mercury | Hg |
      (Hydrargyrum)
     
         Molybdenum | Mo |
      Neodymium | Nd |
      Neon | Ne
         |
      Nickel | Ni |
      Niobium | Nb |
      (see
         Columbium)
      Nitrogen | N |
      Osmium | Os |
     
         Oxygen | O |
      Palladium | Pd |
      Phosphorus | P
         |
      Platinum | Pt |
      Potassium | K |
     
         (Kalium)
      Praseodymium | Pr |
      Rhodium | Rh |
 
             Rubidium | Rb |
      Ruthenium | Ru |
      Samarium
         | Sa |
      Scandium | Sc |
      Selenium | Se |
     
         Silicon | Si |
      Silver | Ag |
      (Argentum)
     
         Sodium | Na |
      (Natrium)
      Strontium | Sr |
    
          Sulphur | S |
      Tantalum | Ta |
      Tellurium | Te
         |
      Thallium | Tl |
      Thorium | Th |
     
         Thulium | Tu |
      Tin | Sn |
      (Stannum)
     
         Titanium | Ti |
      Tungsten | W |
      (Wolframium)
 
             Uranium | U |
      Vanadium | V |
      Wolfranium
         (see Tungsten)
     
         Xenon | X |
      Ytterbium | Yb
         |
      Yttrium | Y |
      Zinc | Zn |
      Zirconium |
         Zr |
     
         ----------------------------------------------------------

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   Note: Several other elements have
         been announced, as holmium,
         vesbium, austrium, etc., but their properties, and in
         some cases their existence, have not yet been
         definitely established.
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   3. One of the ultimate parts which are
         variously combined in
      anything; as, letters are the
         elements of written
      language; hence, also, a simple
         portion of that which is
      complex, as a shaft, lever,
         wheel, or any simple part in a
      machine; one of the
         essential ingredients of any mixture;
      a constituent
         part; as, quartz, feldspar, and mica are the
      elements
         of granite.
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            The simplicity which is so large an element in a
            noble nature was laughed to scorn.    --Jowett
                                                  (Thucyd.).
     
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   4.
      (a) One out of several parts
         combined in a system of
          aggregation, when each is of the nature of the whole;
          as, a single cell is an element of the honeycomb.
     
         (b) (Anat.) One of the smallest natural divisions of the
          organism, as a blood corpuscle, a muscular fiber.
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   5. (Biol.) One of the simplest
         essential parts, more commonly
      called cells, of which
         animal and vegetable organisms, or
      their tissues and
         organs, are composed.
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   6.
         (Math.)
      (a) An infinitesimal part of anything of the
         same nature
          as the entire magnitude considered; as, in a solid an
          element may be the infinitesimal portion between any
          two planes that are separated an indefinitely small
          distance. In the calculus, element is sometimes used
          as synonymous with differential.
      (b) Sometimes a
         curve, or surface, or volume is considered
          as described by a moving point, or curve, or surface,
          the latter being at any instant called an element of
          the former.
      (c) One of the terms in an algebraic
         expression.
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   7. One of the necessary data or values
         upon which a system of
      calculations depends, or
         general conclusions are based;
      as, the elements of a
         planet's orbit.
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   8. pl. The
         simplest or fundamental principles of any system
      in
         philosophy, science, or art; rudiments; as, the
     
         elements of geometry, or of music.
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           9. pl. Any outline or sketch, regarded as containing the

              fundamental ideas or features of the thing in
         question;
      as, the elements of a plan.
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         Webster]

   10. One of the simple substances, as supposed
         by the ancient
       philosophers; one of the imaginary
         principles of matter.
       (a) The four elements were,
         air, earth, water, and fire;

   Note: whence it is said,
         water is the proper element of
         fishes; air is the element of birds. Hence, the state
         or sphere natural to anything or suited for its
         existence.
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               Of elements
               The grosser feeds the purer: Earth the Sea;
               Earth and the Sea feed Air; the Air those Fires
               Ethereal.                          --Milton.
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               Does not our life consist of the four elements?
                                                  --Shak.
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               And the complexion of the element [i. e.,the sky
               or air]
               In favor's like the work we have in hand,
               Most bloody, fiery, and most terrible. --Shak.
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               About twelve ounces [of food], with mere element
               for drink.                         --Cheyne.
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               They show that they are out of their element.
                                                  --T. Baker.
         Esp., the conditions and movements of the air. "The
         elements be kind to thee."
       (b) The elements of the
         alchemists were salt, sulphur,
           and mercury. --Brande & C.
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   11. pl. The whole material composing
         the world.
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             The elements shall melt with fervent heat. --2
                                                  Peter iii. 10.
   
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   12. pl. (Eccl.) The bread and wine
         used in the eucharist or
       Lord's supper.
      
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   Magnetic element, one of the
         hypothetical elementary
      portions of which a magnet is
         regarded as made up.
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